Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) is confident that the legislation to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller will pass the Senate if the GOP leadership will allow a vote on it.
During an interview with CNN on Friday, Flake said, “I do believe the votes are there on the floor if we can just get a vote, and that’s what I’m calling, let’s just have a vote.”
A bipartisan group of senators introduced the legislation to protect Mueller from getting fired without a cause. In April, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure.
However, the Republication leadership doesn’t want to bring it to Senate floor for a vote. They argued that it is not necessary because President Donald Trump has no plan to fire Mueller or undermine the investigation into the alleged Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
“I don’t know how we can be sanguine about what’s going on over at the Department of Justice in terms of the Mueller probe. It’s important to protect it,” added Flake.
GOP blocked the bill twice
This month, Flake together with Senators Chris Coons (D-Delaware) and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) attempted twice to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) blocked it on November 14 and November 28, respectively.
