Laurence Tribe worried DEMS take bait fire Sessions & buh bye Mueller

[BzaDem]

39. I still think you are not appreciating an important distinction.

Trump could execute a Saturday Night Massacre-style firing of Rosenstein and company, and eventually find someone to fire Meuller. He could also potentially attempt to rescind the regulation appointing Meuller, and attempt to fire Mueller without Rosenstein. Both of those actions would cause a firestorm that could put his presidency at risk. The latter would cause mass resignations throughout the government, and the former would likely do so as well. The latter would also be legally challenged, as some language in United States v. Nixon could be read to forbid the President from rescinding a regulation without the concurrence of the agency head.

Because those two options are so risky for Trump, the inevitable political and institutional blowback acts as a deterrent. That deterrent is the only reason he hasn't fired Meuller already. (If you disagree, I would be interested in a coherent theory as to why he has not already fired Meuller.)

On the other hand, if a new AG fires Meuller, and could credibly claim to have done so without any direction or involvement of the President, that would dramatically reduce the political risk to Trump.

So the question would become: could the President put in place an AG that would fire Meuller? Your Grassley quote might be relevant if that required Senate action (though even then I don't think anyone actually believes Grassley would refuse to hold hearings on a new AG).

But the President does not need the Senate's approval. If Sessions resigned, the Vacancies Act permits the President to temporarily appoint as acting Attorney General any Senate-confirmed official of any department, or any non-Senate-confirmed official in the Justice department above a certain level/pay grade. (Most people do not realize this.) In particular, Rosenstein only becomes acting AG if the President does not use the vacancies act to pick someone else.