Senate

GOP senator to Trump: ‘Forget about’ replacing Sessions during recess

by Josh Delk

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) is warning President Trump not to make a recess appointment to replace Jeff Sessions should the embattled attorney general step down during or before the August recess.

“If you’re thinking about making a recess appointment to push out the attorney general, forget about it,” Sasse reportedly said on the Senate floor.

Trump has repeatedly voiced his frustration with Sessions this week, stemming from the former Alabama senator’s decision to recuse himself from the federal investigation into Russian election meddilng and the Trump campaign’s possible Russian connections. 

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“I’m very disappointed in my attorney general,” Trump said from the Rose Garden on Tuesday. “But we will see what happens. Time will tell, time will tell.” 

Sasse’s statement comes after Trump reportedly spoke with his advisers this week about the possibility of appointing a new attorney general. Lawmakers warned the president of the backlash the firing would create, with some fearing a constitutional crisis if Trump tries to get rid of special counsel Robert Mueller, who was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after Sessions’s recusal.

“Despite the lazy, partisan rhetoric of this city, not everything is actually a blood feud between Republicans and Democrats,” Sasse said. “The Presidency isn’t a bull, and this country isn’t a china shop.”