Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation will not be slowed down despite a partial shutdown of the federal government.
The federal government remains in a partial shutdown after Senate Democrats refused to sign off on border security measures passed by the House Of Representatives and endorsed by President Trump. Despite this, a Justice Department spokesman told The Hill that Mueller’s office is “funded from a permanent indefinite appropriation and would be unaffected in the event of a shutdown.”
Robert Mueller is sworn in to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing on Capitol Hill. September 17, 2008. REUTERS/Molly Riley
The special counsel’s investigation is about to enter its 20th month, and has cost taxpayers $25 million between May 2017 and September 2018. Critics of the investigation have said that Mueller’s team has spent too much time focusing on President Trump’s personal life and business dealings, instead of on Russian interference.
The government officially entered a partial shutdown on Friday night even after the Senate voted to proceed with a funding bill on a mostly party-line vote. However, Senate Democrats have so far refused to budge on funding for Trump’s long-promised border wall, and the Senate needs 60 votes to pass any funding bill.
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