dick durbin of illinois objected to what is a routine requests allowing committees to meet while the senate is in session. it forced the cancellation of senate hearings, ending early on a couple of hearings. the focus has been on the hearing of -- the firing of james comey on the senate floor this afternoon. the minority leader outlined the next three steps related to that. schumer: democratic caucus met to discuss the circumstances of mr. comey's dismissal by the white house. there are many questions to be answered in many actions to be taken. we will be pursuing several things in the coming days and weeks that we decided in our caucus and we will have more to say about those next steps in

the days ahead. there are three things our caucus agreed must happen right away. therosenstein should not be one to appoint a special prosecutor. that responsibility should go to the highest serving career so both servant of the department of justice. mr. comey is needed more than ever to testify before the senate. attorney general sessions and deputy attorney general rosenstein should brief all senators on these events separately and in the classified setting and they should do it soon. the questions are swirling. there are more every day, every hour. first, it is the overwhelming view of my caucus that a special prosecutor should now be

appointed to conduct the investigation into the trunk campaign ties to russia. mr. rosenstein cannot be the person to appoint him. cast ondoubts have been mr. rosenstein's impartiality. are many reports director comey met with deputy attorney general rosenstein last week to make a request for more resources for help with the investigation into the trunk campaign ties to russia. that would make the timing of this firing even more suspect. nameosenstein signed his to a highly political memo arguing for director comey's dismissal and made no complaint about the involvement of the attorney general who would recuse himself from all matters

relating to the russian investigation in recommending the firing of the man leading it. it is hard to believe a season prosecutor without bias would have allowed sessions to be part of this and hard to believe that a season prosecutor would write such a memo, which seems highly political, and not and the language, not with the kind of annotation prosecutors normally write in. the decisionlear to appoint a special prosecutor should go to the highest ranking civil servant at the department of justice. mr. rosenstein and other political appointees appointed by the president, who they are supposed to investigate should not be the ones making the call on the special prosecutor, less that decision be seen as influenced or made at the

direction of the administration. we need to ensure the american people they can have confidence in our criminal justice system to conduct the investigation impartially. the best and only way to do that would be for a career civil servant at the department of justice to be the person who decides on a special prosecutor. it should not be a political appointee who make such a decision. our great senior sinister from the state of california brought this up in our meeting, senator feinstein's call that the appointment be made by someone who is a career civil servant, not a political appointee, has the support of our caucus and is the only fair thing to do. we have also learned mr. comey will no longer be appearing before the intelligence committee tomorrow. in his said will be the acting

fbi director andrew mckay. there are unanswered questions that only mr. comey can answer. that he willxpect still come before the senate in some capacity. i salute senator burr and senator warner for inviting him to testify next week before the intelligence committee. it is the right thing to do. we ought to hear from mr. comey. a profound doubt about the reasons and timing of fbi director comey's firing by the andident, about the status progress of the serious investigation into the trump campaign in russia, by his agency, real require answers. and the recent revelations about the rosenstein and comey meeting demand the attorney general and deputy attorney general sessions

brief the senate and answer manyions because of so things swirling about from last night's firing. that briefing could be classified if necessary. maybe part classified part not. each briefing should be done separately. let me speak plainly. the prospect that a campaign for the presidency of the united states colluded with a foreign power to win our nation's highest office is as gravy topic for an investigation as there could be. it gets to the heart and the pillar of our democracy. the fair and free elections of our representatives. that mr.act, the fact comey --n and mr.

attorney general sessions were involved in this firing whenever questions swirling about, they must come before us to answer questions. i hope leader mcconnell understand the need for that and answer the plea i made this morning about this. the fact that mr. rosenstein, which came out after i made my request, that mr. rosenstein by all reports had a meeting with the -- with director comey, where he asked for more resources makes it all the more important for rosenstein to come. that might be the reason that he was fired. because he was pursuing the investigation in an accelerated way that was much needed. we are seeking, the only thing we are seeking,

assurances that this investigation is carried out in an impartial independent way. that we get all the facts, that we get to the bottom of it. all we are seeking is assurance that the subject of this investigation is not able to it.uence it or quash the topic of this investigation itself is very serious. the possibility the investigation is being impeded or tampered with is worse. that threatens the integrity of our criminal justice system and the hallowed american belief in rule of law. i believe this rises above party labels. it rises above partisan politics. i have been heartened several republicans have expressed expects and i hope and

our republican friends will join us in these efforts to make sure this investigation is conducted in the manner it deserves. we want congress's role to be nonpartisan, looking at the good of neither political party, but much rather for the good of our dear country. these are tough and serious times. we cannot shirk our responsibilities. chamberveryone in this will rise to the occasion. trump active on twitter, commenting on the response to his firing of james comey, tweeting the democrats of said sum of the worst things about james comey including the fact that he should be fired. now they play so sad. james comey will be replaced by someone who will do a better job bringing back the spirit and