Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is employing a familiar tactic by vowing to vote against all of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees until the Senate votes on legislation to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
In a Senate floor speech, Flake said he will vote to oppose the nomination of more than four dozen judges. His opposition in the Senate Judiciary Committee means none of the nominees there will make it to the Senate floor unless a Democrat votes yes. And his floor vote against the others could derail final confirmations.
"I have informed the majority leader that I will not vote to advance any of the 21 judicial nominees pending in the Judiciary Committee, or vote to confirm the 32 judges awaiting a confirmation vote on the floor, until [the bill] is brought to the full Senate for a vote," Flake said, ABC News reported.
According to The Hill, a bill that would protect Mueller, who is leading the Department of Justice's investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, from being fired was blocked from the Senate floor by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday. That, coupled with last week's firing of Jeff Sessions as attorney general, promoted Flake to take action.
"With the firing of the attorney general ... the president now has this investigation in his sights and we all know it," Flake said, according to The Hill.
"How such an investigation can be the cause of controversy is beyond me. … [And] presidents do not get to determine what gets investigated and what and who does not."
Earlier Wednesday, Flake spoke at a news conference and noted that the bill to protect Mueller — called the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act — advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in April by a 14-7 vote.
"It's rare that there's such bipartisan legislation in the Judiciary Committee, yet it passed," Flake said. "It's languished here ever since."
Over the summer, Flake opposed nominees to the judicial branch until a Senate vote on Trump's tariffs occurred. He dropped the opposition after a July vote.
It was reported Wednesday that more than 1,600 attorneys signed a letter that demanded Mueller be protected from being fired.
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