Outgoing U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake vowed to block the effort to advance potential judges if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to bring a bill to the floor that would protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
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During a floor speech on Wednesday, Flake said he would not vote to advance any of the 21 judicial nominees pending in the Judicial Committee or vote to confirm any of the 32 judges awaiting confirmation on the Senate floor until McConnell brings the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to a vote.
The bipartisan legislation would give any special counsel a 10-day window to seek expedited judicial review of a firing and put into law existing Justice Department regulations that a special counsel can only be fired for good cause. It was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in April.
Flake and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware attempted to bring it for a vote on the Senate floor Wednesday, but McConnell quickly shut it down.
