Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) think Attorney General Jeff Sessions is on his way out — and they seem ready to replace him.
Amid President Trump's escalating frustration with Sessions, Graham told reporters Thursday it's time for a "fresh voice" to lead the Justice Department, Bloomberg reports. Judiciary Committee chair Grassley seems to agree, also saying Thursday that he'll make time for the committee to hear new nominees for attorney general. It all could reportedly go down as soon as the midterm elections are over.
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A year ago, Graham said "there will be holy hell to pay" if Trump ousted Sessions, who served for years as a senator alongside Graham and Grassley. But now, it's obvious "Sessions doesn't have the confidence of the president," Graham said, and "the president's entitled to an attorney general he has faith in."
Of course, if Trump canned Sessions and successfully replaced him with an AG who wouldn't have to recuse himself, it could help the president curb Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe. But plenty of Republicans clearly think this is a bad idea. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), for one, declared that firing Sessions "would be bad for the country, it would be bad for the president, [and] it would be bad for the Department of Justice for him to be forced out under these circumstances."
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