Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been having a rough time serving in the Trump administration. His boss, President Trump, has said he was disappointed in his performance, that he was weak on investigating the leaks, and Hillary Clinton’s alleged crimes. He also has made it known that he feels his recusal made way for the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation, an investigation that now includes looking into Trump’s financial records, including his tax returns. The rumor mill is buzzing that Sessions will be fired, though replacing him would be yet another challenge that would waste even more time that could be spent pushing the president’s agenda. Yet, it’s probably not going to happen. The Senate Judiciary Committee said it won’t consider any AG replacement and health care is dominating the agenda on the Hill. Yet, should there be a dismissal, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) offered to drop out of the special Senate race to fill Sessions’s vacancy, so that the attorney general can run…to fill his own vacancy (viaThe Hill):
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) is offering to withdraw from Alabama's special Senate election to make way for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to take the Republican nomination for his former seat — if the other GOP contenders vow to do the same.
Brooks's proposition comes as President Trump ratchets up criticism of his attorney general, signaling a potential push by the White House to oust Sessions from the Justice Department.
In his statement, Brooks described Trump's treatment of Sessions as a "public waterboarding."
"If all Republican candidates collectively agree to simultaneously withdraw from this race, then we clear the way for the Republican Party of Alabama to nominate Jeff Sessions to be the Republican nominee for the December 12, 2017 general election," Brooks said in a statement Wednesday.
"He can return to the Senate where he has served us so well. President can then appoint whomever he wants as Attorney General," he added.
The field of Republicans vying for the Senate seat previously held by Sessions and now occupied by Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) is crowded.
We’ll see what happens. Sessions was a die-hard Trump supporter and one of the president’s earliest backers who stayed with him during the high and lows of his presidential campaign. To knife him in the back now would not only be the ignominious end to a long career in public life, but it will give pause to anyone who is approached to work for President Trump. That’s why I’m hoping this is just a brief, albeit intense moment of disagreement, and that cooler heads will prevail.