Trump talks of replacing Sessions through recess appointment

“My understanding is the Sessions thing ends with Sessions leaving the attorney general job to go spend more time with his family,” said one outside counselor to the White House, who, like many other people interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the subject is highly sensitive.

But others involved in the discussions have concluded that Trump is merely venting with his continued assault against Sessions — one described it as “an emotional exercise,” while another called it “just a rough-up job.” They said Trump has neither fully articulated nor set in motion a plan to replace Sessions.

The president has the power to make a recess appointment when the Senate adjourns for a long break of more than a week, allowing the appointee to avoid Senate confirmation and serve through the end of next year. But Democrats have already signaled that they will use parliamentary stalling tactics to prevent the Senate from formally adjourning throughout the upcoming August break — in part to prevent Trump from being able to unilaterally install a new attorney general.

Late Wednesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, RIowa, tweeted a warning to Trump that his committee’s schedule already is “set” for the remainder of the year. It will consider judges and subcabinet nominees first, he wrote, adding, “AG no way.”

Trump has long confided privately what he began to say publicly last week — that he blames Sessions’ recusal for setting in motion the appointment of Robert Mueller as the special counsel of the Russia probe, which the president sees as unfair and a metastasizing problem for himself and his family.

Sessions has shown no indication of stepping aside voluntarily and was at the White House on Wednesday for unrelated meetings with other officials.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the incoming White House press secretary, told reporters Wednesday that Trump was “disappointed” in Sessions but also said, “You can be disappointed in someone but still want them to contin- ue to do their job, and that’s where they are.”

Sanders added, “He wants him to lead the Department of Justice. . . . He wants him to focus on things like immigration, leaks and a number of other issues.”

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, R, who has spoken with Trump this week, said he believes the president’s attacks will quiet down. “My read of him and the people around him is probably, in the end, it will be calm and we’ll move forward,” he said.

Asked whether he believes Sessions will leave the Justice Department, Gingrich said, “No, no ... I really don’t think so.” But he acknowledged that he cannot be certain until the president makes up his mind. “He is really mad,” Gingrich added.

Several lawyers around Trump have been urging the president to stop his saberrattling against Sessions and Mueller, according to three advisors. The president has countered that he believes the probe is a mere political attack — a “witch hunt” and “hoax,” as he often says on Twitter — and that he has no legal jeopardy to worry about.

But several lawyers have told Trump that his comments send a signal to Mueller that the president is trying to shut down or curtail the investigation, as though he does have something to hide.

Trump has largely shrugged off these concerns. “In his mind, he is his own best advocate, his own best lawyer,” one advisor said. “He’s not willing to let the Mueller probe and other events unfold without taking action himself.”

Replacing Sessions could be a precursor to firing Mueller as special counsel. But several of Trump’s White House advisors — including Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon — have strongly counseled him against ordering the dismissal of Mueller, which they have warned would be a political, if not legal, catastrophe, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Trump’s advisors have also argued that replacing the attorney general would be a political distraction from the big-ticket items the administration is pushing in the Senate, including health care, taxes and the budget.