"It would certainly not hurt to put that extra safeguard in place, given the latest stories," Sen. Susan Collins said. | Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images 2 Senate Republicans see merit in protecting special counsel

Congress should advance legislation preventing a president from firing a special counsel, two Senate Republicans said Sunday, breaking with some of their GOP colleagues who have shrugged off the need for such a safeguard.

Speaking on CNN’s "State of the Union," Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said, “It probably wouldn’t hurt” for Congress to pass a bill that would stop President Donald Trump from firing special counsel Robert Mueller. New reports last week said Trump ordered White House lawyer Don McGahn to fire Mueller — who is investigating whether Trump has attempted to obstruct the Russia investigation and his campaign's contacts with Russia — but backed down after McGahn threatened to resign.


Democratic and Republican senators in August 2017 introduced two bills would make it harder for a president to fire a special counsel, but the legislation has languished with little hope of passing the House.

“There are some constitutional issues with those bills,” Collins said. “But it would certainly not hurt to put that extra safeguard in place, given the latest stories. But, again, I have faith in the deputy attorney general that he's going to do what he told me he would do.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, an author of one of the bills, said on ABC: “It would be good to have legislation protecting all special counsels.”

But he added that the special counsel also needs to investigate the Justice Department and the way the FBI handled the Clinton email investigation, as well as the early stages of the Russian investigation.

“The text messages between the two FBI agents don't show political leaning; they show a political bias. I've seen a lot of conflicts of interest,” Graham said.

“I'm very disturbed by the way the Department of Justice and the FBI handled Mr. Steele," he said, referencing the Russia dossier compiled by Christopher Steele and later used by Fusion GPS. "I think we need a special counsel to go into that area as well. And the law would apply to that person also.”

Separately, Graham said Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee should not publish a classified memo they say will reveal misconduct by senior FBI officials involved in investigating Trump's campaign. The Justice Department has warned that doing so without first consulting the agency would be “extraordinarily reckless."

"No, I don't want it released yet," Graham said. "I want somebody who is without a political bias to come in and look at the allegations that I have seen. I've been a lawyer most of my adult life. And the way the FBI conducted itself and the Department of Justice bothers me."

