Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell defended Jeff Sessions on Tuesday, as President Trump continues to lob criticism at his own attorney general and reports emerge the president is looking at firing him.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday afternoon, the Kentucky Republican said he thinks Mr. Sessions “made [the] right decision to recuse himself” from the Justice Department’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.
Mr. Trump recently criticized Mr. Sessions on his recusal during an interview with The New York Times, and continued to tweet about his disappointment in the attorney general. Reports have also emerged Mr. Trump is contemplating firing the attorney general.
“I think the attorney general is doing a fine job and I think he made the right decision to recuse himself from the Russia matter,” said Mr. McConnell.
Earlier on Tuesday, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said it’s the president’s perogative as to who should be hired or fired in the executive branch.
“It’s up to the president to decide what his personnel decision is and any possible fallout that comes from that. If he has concerns with anyone in the administration, their conduct on the job, I’m sure he is going to talk to them directly,” said Mr. Ryan.
In March, the attorney general recused himself from involvement in the Justice Department’s investigation into allegations of collusion between Mr. Trump’s campaign team and the Russian government during the 2016 election because he had served as a campaign surrogate at the time for Mr. Trump.
• Sally Persons contributed to this report.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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