Poor Jeff Sessions is getting picked on again.

“I don't have an attorney general. It's very sad. I'm not happy at the border, I'm not happy with numerous things, not just this,” President Donald Trump said in an interview on HillTV. “I'm very disappointed in Jeff. Very disappointed.”

The remarks follow middle school-style slights like the time the president at a cabinet meeting in June praised everyone at the table except Sessions. Or when he tweeted that Sessions is “scared stiff and missing in action,” or said Sessions “never took control of the Justice Department,” or blasted him for indicting two GOP congressmen. (“Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff.”)

It's almost enough to make you feel sorry for the man.

It seems increasingly clear that Sessions' days of leading DOJ are numbered, especially after key Republicans in the Senate such as Lindsey Graham signaled support for ousting him after the midterm election. Trump deserves an attorney general he has “faith in” Graham said.

Fair enough. But who might replace him?

Jenna GreeneBased on how Trump has treated Sessions, the successful candidate would need a special blend of sycophancy and masochism—plus be willing to flout inconvenient opinions by ethics officials on when to recuse, give free passes to Republican officials suspected of wrongdoing and maybe pledge to lock Hillary Clinton up.

And that doesn't even include shutting down Robert Mueller III's investigation.

In the short term, if Sessions resigned or was fired, the normal line of succession would be for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to take over as acting AG. Somehow I don't think the president would see that as an improvement.

Trump could attempt to invoke the Federal Vacancies Act Reform Act of 1998 and appoint any current Senate-confirmed official to the post for 210 days (or potentially longer). There are plenty of lawyers working for the administration who no doubt would be happy to step in.

But as University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck writing for Newsweek pointed out, “the language of the Vacancies Reform Act is not at all clear that it applies when the previous officeholder is fired (the statute is triggered when the current officeholder 'dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office').” And Trump just might have to fire Sessions to get him out.

The president could also try to make a recess appointment—but Senate Democrats could probably filibuster the adjournment resolution. (Thanks Noel Canning…What goes around, comes around.)

As for permanent AG candidates, Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and John Cornyn of Texas, as well as Graham of South Carolina have all been mentioned—though all have said they are not interested. (Which is probably what they'd say even if they were interested.)

But Politico last week quoted a Republican close to the White House who said that while a senator might be persuaded to take the job, it was unclear that anyone could meet Trump's criteria of loyalty. “I don't know that there's anybody in the Senate he feels that way about or that they feel that way about him.”

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie still gets mentioned too.

New Jersey Republican Alan J. Steinberg writing for Inside NJ, called Christie a “distinct possibility,” noting that Trump likes him and sees him as loyal, and that Jared Kushner has less clout these days to oppose him. (Christie prosecuted Kushner's father.)

“Christie would receive the vote of every GOP Senator, plus New Jersey Democratic U.S. Senator Cory Booker,” Steinberg predicted. “To be sure, liberal Democrats would raise the Bridgegate scandal as a basis for denying Christie confirmation. And Christie's successor as New Jersey's U.S. Attorney, Paul Fishman, would be on MSNBC and CNN every night, arguing against Christie's appointment.  None of this would work. Christie would be confirmed.”

It's not exactly clear what Christie is doing these days. A flurry of stories in June reported that he opened his own law firm, but there's no trace of it online. His state bar profile lists an employer phone number, but's just a generic voice mail that says, “You have reached 908-672-1800. Please leave a message.”

I think we can assume Christie would say yes to the job if asked.

Rep. Trey Gowdy?

In January, the former prosecutor from South Carolina best-known for overseeing the Benghazi probe, announced that he was retiring from politics and would be going back into the “justice system.” There has been periodic speculation that he could be tapped to replace Sessions.

On May 30, Trump approvingly tweeted comments by Gowdy, who said: “I think what the President is doing is expressing frustration that Attorney General Sessions should have shared these reasons for recusal before he took the job, not afterward. If I were the President and I picked someone to be the country's…. chief law enforcement officer, and they told me later, 'oh by the way I'm not going to be able to participate in the most important case in the office, I would be frustrated too.”

That's music to the president's ears.

But Gowdy has also defended James Comey and Robert Mueller and been called a RINO (Republican in Name Only) by Lou Dobbs. Rolling Stone in a June 4 profile described Gowdy as “someone who breaks ranks, who prefers facts to hearsay and innuendo and who doesn't see every situation as a partisan death match.”

That doesn't sound like the AG for Trump—but might be someone the Senate would confirm.

And here's a dark horse: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (swoon!).

Azar had this to say in July about detaining immigrant children: “It is one of the great acts of American generosity and charity, what we are doing for these unaccompanied kids who are smuggled into our country or come across illegally.”

So yeah, throw his hat in the ring too.

“There is probably no way that anyone will be occupying Justice Kennedy's seat on the first Monday in October,” said Berkeley Law professor John Yoo.

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