Washington - President Donald Trump on
Wednesday forced out Attorney General Jeff Sessions a day after
congressional elections, and vowed to fight if the U.S. House of
Representatives' new Democratic majority launches probes into
his administration.
Sessions, an early supporter of Trump who ran afoul with
him by recusing himself from a investigation into Russian
meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, said in a letter to
the president he had submitted his resignation "at your
request."
Sessions' departure was the first in what could be a string
of high-profile exits as Trump reshapes his team to gird for his
own 2020 re-election effort. Trump named Sessions' chief of
staff, Matthew Whitaker, as acting attorney general and said he
would nominate someone for the job soon.
During a combative news conference in which he tangled with
reporters, Trump trumpeted his role in Republican gains in
Tuesday's midterm congressional elections, and warned he would
adopt a "warlike posture" if Democrats investigated him.
Democrats will now head House committees that can probe the
president's tax returns, which he has refused to turn over,
possible business conflicts of interest and any links between
his 2016 campaign and Russia, a matter being investigated by
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Mueller is overseen by Deputy Attorney General Rod
Rosenstein, who reports to Sessions.
Trump said he could fire Mueller if he wanted but was
hesitant to take that step. "I could fire everybody right now,
but I don't want to stop it, because politically I don't like
stopping it," he said.
Moscow denies meddling and Trump, calling the Mueller probe
a witch hunt, denies any collusion.
Trump was buoyed on Wednesday by victories that added to the
Republican majority in the U.S. Senate, telling reporters at the
White House that the gains outweighed the Democrats' takeover of
the House. He added that he was willing to work with Democrats
on key priorities but felt any House investigations of his
administration would hurt prospects for bipartisanship.
"They can play that game, but we can play it better," Trump
said of the possibility of Democratic investigations. "All
you're going to do is end up in back and forth and back and
forth, and two years is going to go up and we won't have done a
thing."
The divided power in Congress combined with Trump's
expansive view of executive power could herald even deeper
political polarization and legislative gridlock in Washington.
There may be some room, however, for Trump and Democrats to
work together on issues with bipartisan support such as a
package to improve infrastructure, protections against
prescription drug price increases and in the push to rebalance
trade with China.
"It really could be a beautiful bipartisan situation," Trump
said.
He said Nancy Pelosi, who could be the next speaker of the
House, had expressed to him in a phone call a desire to work
together. With Democrats mulling whether to stick with Pelosi,
who was speaker when the party last controlled the House, or go
in a new direction, Trump wrote in a tweet earlier that she
deserves to be chosen for the position.
Pelosi, at a news conference on Capitol Hill, said Democrats
would be willing to work with Trump where possible, but added,
"We have a constitutional responsibility to have oversight."
"I don't think we'll have any scattershot freelancing in
terms of this. We will have a responsibility to honor our
oversight responsibilities and that's the path we will go down.
We again (will) try to unify our country," she said.
The Democrats fell short of a tidal wave of voter support
that would have won them control of both chambers of Congress.
But in the 435-member House, the party was headed for a gain of
around 30 seats, beyond the 23 they needed to claim their first
majority in eight years.
A Senate majority would have allowed Democrats to apply even
firmer brakes on Trump's policy agenda and given them the
ability to block any future Supreme Court nominees.
House Democrats could force Trump to scale back his
legislative ambitions, possibly dooming his promises to fund a
border wall with Mexico and pass a second major tax-cut package.
Legislators could also demand more transparency from Trump as he
negotiates new trade deals with Japan and the European Union.
"Today is more than about Democrats and Republicans; it's
about restoring the Constitution's checks and balances to the
Trump administration," Pelosi told supporters at a victory party
Tuesday night.
Trump also mocked Republican candidates who had refused to
back his policies and ultimately lost their races, such as U.S.
Representative Barbara Comstock of Virginia.
"They did very poorly. I'm not sure that I should be happy
or sad but I feel just fine about it," he said.
U.S. stocks jumped on Wednesday as investors, who often
favour Washington gridlock because it preserves the status quo
and reduces uncertainty, bought back into a market that had its
worst month in seven years in October.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained more than
2 percent by late afternoon while the broad-based S&P 500 index
was up nearly 2 percent. The dollar index, a
measure of the greenback against a basket of currencies, was
slightly weaker.
A Democrat-controlled House could hamper Trump's attempts to
further his pro-business agenda, fueling uncertainty about his
administration. His corporate tax cuts and the deregulation that
have played a large hand in the U.S. stock market's rally since
the 2016 election, however, are likely to remain untouched.
"With the Democrats taking over the House, we will now have
to see what gridlock in Congress means for policy. As for the
market impact, a split Congress has historically been bullish
for equities and we expect to see the same pattern again," said
Torsten Slok, chief international economist for Deutsche Bank.
Democrats will use their new majority to reverse what they
see as a hands-off approach by Republicans toward Trump's
foreign policy, and push for tougher dealings with Russia, Saudi
Arabia and North Korea.
Foreign policy has been an area that Trump has approached in
a very personal way, sometimes antagonizing allies such as
Canada while making what critics see as unduly warm overtures to
traditional U.S. rivals or foes.
Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee,
said Democrats could work with Republicans to produce a
long-awaited bill to upgrade the nation's roads, bridges and
airports.
"Of course, we want to work in a bipartisan fashion. I think
we can get an infrastructure bill," he said.
Trump had hardened his rhetoric in recent weeks on issues
that appealed to his conservative core supporters. He threw
himself into the campaign, issuing warnings about a caravan of
Latin American migrants headed through Mexico to the U.S. border
and condemnations of liberal American "mobs" he says oppose him.
DEMOCRATIC PROBES
Every seat in the House was up for grabs on Tuesday and
opinion polls had pointed to the Democratic gains. The party
with the presidency often loses House seats in midterm
elections.
The Republicans had an advantage in Senate races because
elections were held for only 35 seats in the 100-member chamber
and many of them were in states that often lean Republican.
Republicans built on their slim Senate majority by several
seats and ousted at least three incumbent Democrats: Joe
Donnelly in Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota and Claire
McCaskill in Missouri.
In Florida, Democratic Senator Bill Nelson was trailing his
Republican rival, Governor Rick Scott, by a slim margin, with
the possibility of a recount looming. Republican Martha McSally
was leading Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in the U.S. Senate race in
Arizona with some votes still to be counted.
The Republican gains are sure to bolster the party's efforts
to get conservative federal judges through confirmation
proceedings. In the 36 gubernatorial contests, Democrats won in
several states that supported Trump in 2016 but lost
high-profile races in Florida and Ohio.