Schumer to test Republican support for Trump in Senate

Chuck Schumer has a plan to test Republican support for Donald Trump’s call to “defund” the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Senate Majority Leader on Tuesday warned his colleagues that he will make his move on April 17, when the Senate returns from recess. He will introduce a resolution denouncing the former president’s demand.

Trump, the day after his New York arraignment on charges of paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniel, called on his Republican allies to disband the two federal agencies in a blistering assault on all legal investigations into his activities.

Schumer will gauge the level of support in the Senate among Republicans as he puts them on record with their votes for or against his resolution.

“The good work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice sends criminals to prison for bank robberies, sex trafficking, child pornography, hate crimes, terrorism, fraud and much more. The former president and his allies in Congress should not subjugate justice and public safety because of their own personal grievances,” he wrote in a letter to colleagues.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio, in a counter-movement, pledged to change the resolution to reflect some of the GOP’s concerns.

“I will try to change it by adding language that condemns something that actually happened, DOJ and FBI trying to infiltrate Catholic parishes and cultivate ‘sources’ within Catholic churches,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Florida senator was referring to a Monday report that the FBI was seeking to develop resources within Catholic churches as part of their effort to combat domestic terrorism.

The problem is one of political power.

Trump has announced he is seeking another term in the White House, and many Republican lawmakers have not clarified whether they will support him or any of the other contenders.

In addition, Democrats, who have been portrayed as soft on crime, would have the chance to vote for a measure praising law enforcement.

Trump, meanwhile, is focused on the federal investigations into his actions. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department is involved in the New York case, where Trump has pleaded not guilty.

After his New York arraignment, Donald Trump called on his Republican allies in Congress to disband the FBI and the Justice Department

But the Justice Department has two separate investigations into Trump: one into his possession of classified documents at his home in Mar-a-Lago and a second into his actions related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS SHOULD PAY DOJ AND FBI UNTIL THEY COME TO SENSE. THE DEMOCRATS HAVE COMPLETELY ARMONIZED LAW ENFORCEMENT IN OUR COUNTRY AND ARE USING THIS ABUSE OF POWER TO LOWER OUR ALREADY BELIEVED ELECTIONS!,” Trump demanded on his Truth Social platform.

But GOP lawmakers don’t have enough votes in Congress to make that happen.

Republicans have the majority in the House of Representatives. But 15 of those legislators represent districts that Joe Biden won in the 2020 election, making it unclear if there are even enough votes among the GOP for such a move. Speaker Kevin McCarthy has a narrow five-seat majority.

However, some lawmakers, including powerful Representative Jim Jordan, have indicated they support Trump’s position.

Jordan heads the commission that investigates the federal government’s “weaponization” and has said he favors “limiting” funds to federal agencies he believes are involved in such practices.

Trump has repeatedly claimed to be the victim of an “armed” government that targets him for political reasons.

But it’s different in the Senate, where Republicans only have 49 seats, which isn’t enough to pass such legislation.

The White House has said that President Joe Biden would veto the removal of the DoJ or the FBI if the opportunity arises.