Trump says White House counsel Don McGahn will soon be leaving

U.S. President Donald Trump is tweeting that his White House counsel, Don McGahn, will be departing in the fall after the Senate vote on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Trump praised his top White House lawyer Wednesday, saying he has "worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service!"

McGahn has played a major role in Trump's overhaul of the federal judiciary with conservative judges. And he played a prominent role in Trump's selection of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and the president's nomination of Kavanaugh.

McGahn has had a tumultuous tenure, marked by his threat to resign last year if Trump continued to press for the removal of Robert Mueller as the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russian election interference.

Trump lashed out at the New York Times earlier this month over a report that McGahn had sat down for several hours of interviews with the special counsel.

Trump insisted at the time that his general counsel wasn't a "RAT" and accused Mueller's team of "looking for trouble." He contrasted McGahn with John Dean, the White House counsel for President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. Dean ultimately co-operated with prosecutors and helped bring down the Nixon presidency in 1974, though he served a prison term for obstruction of justice.

'Can't let that happen'

William Burck, McGahn's attorney, said in a statement at the time: "President Trump, through counsel, declined to assert any privilege over Mr. McGahn's testimony, so Mr. McGahn answered the Special Counsel team's questions fulsomely and honestly, as any person interviewed by federal investigators must."

McGahn would be the latest in a string of high-profile departures or firings from the Trump administration, which are occurring at a pace not seen at this juncture in previous presidencies. Trump, as with the departure of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in March, once again announced a major personnel move by Twitter.

The White House counsel is among the most critical — and least visible — positions in the West Wing, with input on a range of issues from policy to personnel to national security.

McGahn's impending departure quickly raised concerns within Congress, including within Trump's party. Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, tweeted after the president's announcement: "I hope it's not true McGahn is leaving White House Counsel. U can't let that happen."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell characterized it as "sad news," calling McGahn "the most impressive White House counsel during my time in Washington." McConnell has been a senator representing Kentucky since 1985.

Emmet Flood, who joined Trump's White House in May as in-house counsel for the Mueller probe, has been considered a leading candidate to replace McGahn.

Asked about Flood, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "People like him. He's super well-respected around the building. But there's not a plan locked in place at this point."

McGahn, 50, has navigated many of the storms of the first 19 months of the Trump White House, figuring in the drama surrounding the firing of national security adviser Michael Flynn and Attorney General Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from the Russia case.