Republican amendment brings special counsel protection bill to temporary halt

A bipartisan bill meant to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller against any attempt to fire him has stalled temporarily, after Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, added an amendment requiring the special counsel to report any changes in the scope of his investigation to Congress.

According to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, legislators have kicked the can down the road a week.

“I’m worried about an amendment we haven’t been able to review that could undermine the investigation,” Feinstein said in a statement on Wednesday. “I’ve discussed this with Chairman Grassley and he has agreed to not take action this week but instead place the bill on the committee’s markup calendar next week.”

The Special Counsel Independence & Integrity Act combines bipartisan bills introduced by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE), and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), and provides a 10-day window in which the special counsel may appeal any dismissal to a three-judge panel. If the panel were to find no just cause to dismiss the special counsel in that time, the order would be overturned.

https://thinkprogress.org/bipartisan-bill-to-protect-mueller-stalls-90bef2523234/