Tuesday 31 / December / 2024
When asked what message he had for ex-FBI chief James Comey before he testified on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said, 'I wish him luck', at a meeting with GOP leaders at the White House.
Trump is meeting congressional leaders on Tuesday to push for efforts to overhaul the U.S. healthcare and tax systems, as investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election campaign weigh on his administration.
Senior Republicans suggested the Senate might vote on a healthcare bill in July, before it breaks for the summer.
Trump wants faster action from his fellow Republicans in Congress to advance his legislative agenda, pressing lawmakers to finish the job of dismantling the Obamacare healthcare law and move on quickly to another of his priorities: tax cuts.
But Republican lawmakers remain divided on healthcare after the House of Representatives passed a bill to replace Obamacare in May. Whatever the White House's efforts to push ahead with policy plans, there will be a spotlight on testimony by Comey, the FBI director Trump fired last month, to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday.
Senators will question Comey on whether Trump tried to get him to back off an FBI investigation into ties between the president's 2016 campaign and Russia, an attempt that critics have said could constitute obstruction of justice.
Trump denies any collusion with Russia, and has called the investigation a "witch hunt."
The Justice Department has appointed a special counsel to oversee its probe into the Russia issue and several congressional panels are also investigating the matter.
