Trump heads to Paris as attorney general controversy intensifies

President Trump is off to Paris today, leaving behind a Washington in turmoil over the ousting of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the change in power in the House.

It will only be a short weekend trip for Trump and first lady Melania Trump, who will join French President Emmanuel Macron at a military celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

The president will return to the White House on Sunday, two days before Congress will kick off a tumultuous lame-duck session before Democrats reclaim the majority in the House in January.

Lawmakers will return to the Capitol on Tuesday for the first time in more than a month.

Democrats are already treating the president’s decision to fire Sessions and replace him with acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, a Trump ally who will oversee special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, as their first opportunity to investigate the president and wield powers of oversight.

Renewed debate about legislating protections around Mueller’s investigation is guaranteed to draw Democratic support, and perhaps some Republican backing, as well. #ProtectMueller was trending on Twitter last night and protesters hit the streets demanding the special counsel be allowed to continue unimpeded.

For now, members of both parties are demanding Whitaker recuse himself from the Russia investigation, citing his past remarks that the probe had run too far afield and that there was no “collusion” between the Russians and Trump campaign. It’s unclear how quickly Trump will nominate a Senate-confirmable successor for attorney general.

White House braces for Mueller, whose team has so far produced 32 criminal charges and four guilty pleas from Trump associates. The work is not done.

On Thursday, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee called for an emergency hearing, demanding answers from Whitaker about how the ouster of Sessions took place, and what it means for Mueller’s investigation.

In a letter, the Democrats warned of a "constitutional crisis" if Mueller is not allowed to finish his work, which has no set timetable and has been in full swing for 1-½ years.

“There is little doubt that President Trump’s decision to force the firing of Attorney General Sessions places special counsel Mueller’s inquiry at grave risk.” — Judiciary Committee Democrats

Separately, Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the likely chairman of the House Judiciary Committee next year, Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the anticipated new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), an experienced overseer who will likely lead the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote to the White House demanding officials preserve all documents pertaining to Sessions’s departure as well as the complete record of the special counsel’s work thus far.

The president had telegraphed his intention to fire Sessions for months but the decision to act the day after Democrats won control of the House gives his political opponents an opportunity to immediately wield influence before they have the majority in January.