House Democratic leader threatens to tie Mueller protections to spending bill

U.S. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that Democrats would try to force protections for U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller into a must-pass spending bill if the House is not allowed to vote on a free-standing bill protecting him from potential political interference.Republicans control the House of Representatives and Senate until January, but they need some Democratic votes on the legislation to keep parts of the U.S. government open beyond Dec. 7."The Congress must immedi