The Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), warned President Donald Trump on Wednesday that his committee would not consider any additional nominations for Attorney General for the rest of 2017.
“Everybody in D.C. [should be] warned that the agenda for the Judiciary Committee is set for rest of 2017. Judges first subcabinet 2nd / AG no way,” Grassley wrote in a tweet on Wednesday evening.
Grassley’s comments effectively end any possibility of Trump finding a replacement for Sessions, as the chairman could block any further attorney general nominee from getting the necessary hearing in order to be confirmed.
Over the past week, Trump has publicly derided Sessions for alleged disloyalty and criticized his decision to recuse himself from the investigation into alleged Russian collusion.
When asked at a press conference on Tuesday whether he planned to fire Sessions, Trump said: “We’ll see what happens. Time will tell.”
“I am disappointed in the Attorney General,” he added. “He should not have recused himself almost immediately after he took office.”
A report from Axios on Tuesday also claimed that allies of Sessions confirmed he would not resign from the role, and that Donald Trump would have to fire him.
However, White House aides told the The New York Times on Wednesday that Sessions would stay in office for at least the near future.
Amid all the chaos, Sessions has carried on with the job at hand. On Tuesday, he announced a new crackdown on sanctuary cities, while a report from The Washington Post on Wednesday revealed that Sessions is planning to announce multiple investigations of criminal leakers within the federal government.
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