Key Republicans give President Donald Trump path to fire Attorney-General Jeff Sessions after election

WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - Two key Republican senators signalled to President Donald Trump that he could replace Attorney-General Jeff Sessions after the midterm elections in November, a move that would open the way for firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller or constraining his probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

"The president's entitled to an attorney-general he has faith in, somebody that's qualified for the job, and I think there will come a time, sooner rather than later, where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice," Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who may be in line to head the Judiciary Committee next year, told reporters on Thursday (Aug 23). "Clearly, Attorney-General Sessions doesn't have the confidence of the president."

Senator Chuck Grassley, the current Judiciary chairman, also changed his position on Thursday, saying in an interview that he would be able to make time for hearings for a new attorney-general after saying in the past that the panel was too busy to tackle that explosive possibility.

Several other Republicans rejected the idea of replacing the attorney-general, while Mr Sessions defended his performance in a statement on Thursday.

"We have had unprecedented success at effectuating the President's agenda... While I am Attorney-General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations," he said.

In warning against ousting Mr Sessions before the election, Senator Graham called that possibility "a non-starter" that "would create havoc" with Senate efforts to confirm Mr Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as well as with the midterm elections in November.

But his statement that such a move could come after the election represents a significant shift from Mr Graham's stance a year ago, when he warned Mr Trump publicly that if he fired Mr Sessions "there will be holy hell to pay".

Mr Graham and Mr Grassley spoke as two federal investigations are drawing closer to the president. Mr Mueller's probe is newly energised after the conviction of Mr Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Mr Trump potentially faces a separate Justice Department investigation into campaign violations sparked by the guilty plea of his former lawyer Michael Cohen.

The message from Republican senators was far from unanimous.

Mr John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said ousting Mr Sessions "would be bad for the country, it would be bad for the president, it would be bad for the Department of Justice for him to be forced out under these circumstances".

Senator Susan Collins, a moderate from Maine, said ousting Mr Sessions "would not be a wise move" and "I don't see the president being able to get someone else confirmed as attorney-general were he to fire Jeff Sessions".

Mr Trump often takes aim at Mr Sessions, a former Republican senator he has attacked and ridiculed for recusing himself from the investigation into Russian interference election that is now being run by Mr Mueller. Mr Trump has called the inquiry into whether anyone close to him conspired with the Russians a "witch hunt" and mocked "the Jeff Sessions 'Justice' Department" on Twitter.

Mr Graham has provided a sometimes confounding mix of criticism and praise for Mr Trump, who occasionally invites the senator to golf at one of his resorts. It was not clear why Mr Graham would publicly predict that Mr Trump will take such a politically explosive action even as the senator said it should be delayed.

Mr Graham also urged Mr Trump on Thursday not to pardon Manafort, a possibility the president has acknowledged, or Cohen.

"If there's a pardon of either one of them it will be seen as self-serving, and it will create a political problem for the president," he said. "I don't know what Manafort's done to earn a pardon. He hasn't even been sentenced yet."

Mr Graham's comments about Mr Sessions could be sending a message that Mr Mueller faces a deadline to finish his Russia investigation before November's election that will determine whether Republicans continue to control the House and Senate.

If Mr Trump replaces Mr Sessions - who has so far resisted Mr Trump's very public hints that he should resign - a new attorney-general could take over the investigation and fire Mr Mueller or cripple his probe.

Mr Trump would not need to wait until his new choice for attorney-general was confirmed by the Senate, which would be a difficult fight. He could install an interim attorney-general directly after ousting Mr Sessions, although some legal experts argue that the powers of such an interim appointee would be limited.

"We have somebody that they seem to like to go after lot of Republicans," Mr Trump said of Mr Sessions in an interview with Fox News that aired on Thursday, adding that the inability of his attorney-general to control his department was "a regrettable thing".

Asked about a possible replacement for Mr Sessions, Mr Grassley took a different position from a year ago, when he warned the White House he did not have time to do another confirmation hearing that year.

"I do have time for hearings on nominees that the president might send up here that I didn't have last year," Mr Grassley of Iowa said on Thursday. Mr Grassley has clashed with Mr Sessions this year because of the attorney-general's intense opposition to Mr Grassley's efforts to pass a criminal justice overhaul.

Mr Grassley said, though, that Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation would take precedence over any other nominees Mr Trump might send to the Senate.

Mr Grassley declined to comment specifically on the fate of Mr Sessions when asked about Mr Graham's prediction that the president will replace him after the election.

Senator Thom Tillis, another Republican member of the Judiciary Committee, said he hopes Mr Trump keeps Mr Sessions, saying he has "full confidence" in the attorney-general.

"I hope to see him there all the way through 2020," Mr Tillis of North Carolina said. "I know Jeff Sessions well, served with him. He is one of the fairest people I know - high integrity - and that's what we need in that office."