Rep. Jim Himes said Tuesday "there's not a lot of backbone" in the Republican-controlled House in explaining why the chamber has not addressed legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
"You have an awful lot of representatives, Republicans, who are facing primaries and would face very, very difficult political wins at home," the Connecticut Democrat told "Morning Joe" on MSNBC. "I'm not excusing that.
"I'm explaining why there's not a lot of backbone being shown in the House of Representatives today."
House Republicans have not called for any legislation to protect the Mueller probe, but they have demanded another special counsel be appointed to investigate allegations of abuses by the FBI and the Justice Department in the Moscow and Hillary Clinton email inquiries.
In the Senate, Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have co-sponsored legislation with Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Chris Coons of Delaware to protect the Moscow investigation.
Twenty House Republicans, including Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, have announced their retirements or their intentions to not seek re-election in November's mid-term elections.
Democrats need to pick up 25 House seats to regain the majority, which they lost to Republicans in 2011.
Himes, 51, has raised more than $2.6 million in his quest for a fifth term, according to filings with the Federal Elections Commission, including $1.17 million in the first quarter of the year.
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