U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis wants to place limits on the special counsel investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Robert Mueller, the former FBI director, was appointed in May by the Department of Justice to investigate the role Russia played in the election and any links or coordination between President Trump's campaign and the Russian effort.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made the appointment after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey and Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from participating in the investigation after it was discovered he had met with Russian officials while supporting Trump's campaign after having denied doing so.

DeSantis, the Palm Coast Republican who represents Volusia and Flagler counties in Congress and has been exploring a 2018 run for Florida governor, has filed an amendment calling for two things:

• Defunding of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe by mid-November.

• Limiting the scope of the investigation to matters that happened only after Trump entered the 2016 campaign in June 2015.

DeSantis endorsed Trump at a rally in St. Augustine late in the 2016 campaign. His spokeswoman, Elizabeth Fusick, emailed a comment.

"The order appointing a special counsel promulgated by Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein didn't identify a crime to be investigated and practically invites a fishing expedition. Congress should use its spending power to clarify the scope and limit the duration of this investigation. Rosenstein has said that the DOJ doesn't conduct fishing expeditions; the corollary to this admonition should be that Congress will not fund a fishing expedition."

By Monday night, DeSantis' amendment had begun to get a lot of attention on social media. But it appears unlikely to be supported in the House, where Republican leaders like Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, have expressed support for Mueller's investigation. “I know Bob Mueller. I have confidence in Bob Mueller,” Ryan said at the time.

Rick Wilson, a Republican media strategist from Florida who at one time worked for former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, said DeSantis' amendment is more motivated by his political ambition than getting to the bottom of the Trump campaign's involvement with Russian efforts to influence the 2016 outcome.

"It's a play that will go exactly nowhere with leadership, and is dead on arrival," Wilson said. "It's a cheap play for email clicks for fundraising and is pitched to the base-of-the-base."