Why Trump Should Worry More About Congress Than About Mueller

In all the coverage of the Trump administration’s fraught interactions with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, it has been easy to miss the potentially more consequential interplay unfolding across town: that between Mueller’s team and Congress.

Last month, Republican Representative Ron DeSantis proposed a measure to limit funding for Mueller’s probe to six months and restrict its scope. More recently, there have been spats between Mueller’s team and the GOP-led congressional investigations of Russia’s election interference.

Congress’s approach to the investigation—both in its relationship with Mueller and the fervor with which it gathers evidence and executes its oversight role—is of decisive importance for Trump’s future. When it comes to righting presidential wrongs, special prosecutors generally play only a supporting role. True power over the investigation and removal of sitting presidents has always run through Congress.