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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that Democrats might tie their support for the next spending bill to legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller – although he stopped short of saying he would be willing to risk a shutdown.
The New York Democrat fears that President Donald Trump's choice of Matthew Whitaker to head the Justice Department could threaten Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling and potential ties to the Trump campaign. Trump named Whitaker as the intehttps://www.debatepolitics.com/rim attorney general after Jeff Sessions' ouster last week.
"The appointment of Mr. Whitaker should concern every American –Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative – who believes in rule of law and justice," Schumer said during an interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "He has already prejudged the Mueller situation. If he stays there, he will create a constitutional crisis by inhibiting Mueller or firing Mueller, so Congress has to act."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...humer-robert-mueller-spending-bil/1967118002/
While I certainly agree with the idea, I couldn't help but wonder what the point was in saying in advance that he wouldn't support a shutdown. While I am no negotiation expert, I'm pretty sure that saying you wouldn't go through with a threat somewhat defangs that threat. It renders the act of tying protection of the SC investigation symbolic instead of concrete.