WSJ: Small Cadre of GOP Sens Will Influence What Comes Next

In the aftermath of President Donald Trump's dismissal of FBI Director James Comey, what happens next will likely be influenced by a small group of Senate Republicans, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Namely, confirmation of the president's choice to replace Comey, and whether to support a movement for a special prosecutor to investigate Russia's ties to the Trump campaign.

And with a narrow margin over Democrats in the upper chamber, the WSJ reported Trump needs these pivotal lawmakers on his side, some with whom his relationship can be described as lukewarm at best:

• Bob Corker
• Lamar Alexander
• John McCain
• Jeff Flake
• Lindsey Graham
• Susan Collins
• Chuck Grassley
• Lisa Murkowski
• Ben Sasse

Sasse, who called Comey's ouster "very troubling," and Flake were part of the "Never Trump" coalition; McCain and Graham have been outspoken in their criticism of Trump on several issues — though not Graham on the Comey issue; even Corker, an early supporter of Trump's and whose name was in consideration for a Cabinet position, was distant, at best, of the Comey decision.

"It is essential that ongoing investigations are fulsome and free of political interference until their completion," Corker said in a statement."

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