President Donald Trump is considering appointing Rudolph Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions as head of the Department of Justice (DOJ), White House officials told Axios.
The news follows Trump’s sharp criticism of Sessions in a wide-ranging New York Times interview published last week. Trump told Times reporters he never would have appointed Sessions to head the DOJ had he known Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia investigation, and on Monday Trump asked on social media why the “beleaguered A.G.” wasn’t investigating Hillary Clinton.
So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2017
Giuliani was one of Trump’s earliest and most vocal supporters, which could make it difficult to get 50 senators to vote for his confirmation. “[H]e wouldn’t be seen as an independent guardian of the department in these tumultuous times,” Axios reports. Sessions, however, was also a stalwart of Trump’s campaign, and he was confirmed by a vote of 52-47.
