The U.S. Senate confirmed Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.,
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Posted On: 02/08/2017 8:47:22 PM
The U.S. Senate confirmed Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) as attorney general on Wednesday after days of sometimes angry debate in which Democratic senators questioned their colleague’s commitment to civil rights and independence from the president.
The confirmation of Sessions by a 52-47 vote elevates a close ally of President Donald Trump and one of the Senate’s most conservative members to run the Justice Department, which is already embroiled in defending the Trump administration’s executive order on immigration.
That battle has rocked the department, and one of Sessions’ first tasks would be calming the waters. Days after Trump issued the order barring entry from seven majority-Muslim countries, saying it was necessary to keep out terrorists, acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama administration holdover, told Justice Department lawyers not to defend it because of concerns about its legality. Trump fired her within hours and installed Virginia U.S. Attorney Dana Boente as acting attorney general. Sessions would take charge of the legal defense of the executive order, which has been suspended by a federal judge and was the subject of a court hearing Tuesday.
Allegations of racial bias sank Sessions’ 1985 nomination for a federal judgeship, and the issue flared up again in this confirmation fight. Sessions and his allies have pushed back, highlighting civil-rights cases Sessions supported and showcasing support from black colleagues. At his recent confirmation hearing, Sessions described claims that he is racist as “damnably false.”
The confirmation of Sessions by a 52-47 vote elevates a close ally of President Donald Trump and one of the Senate’s most conservative members to run the Justice Department, which is already embroiled in defending the Trump administration’s executive order on immigration.
That battle has rocked the department, and one of Sessions’ first tasks would be calming the waters. Days after Trump issued the order barring entry from seven majority-Muslim countries, saying it was necessary to keep out terrorists, acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama administration holdover, told Justice Department lawyers not to defend it because of concerns about its legality. Trump fired her within hours and installed Virginia U.S. Attorney Dana Boente as acting attorney general. Sessions would take charge of the legal defense of the executive order, which has been suspended by a federal judge and was the subject of a court hearing Tuesday.
Allegations of racial bias sank Sessions’ 1985 nomination for a federal judgeship, and the issue flared up again in this confirmation fight. Sessions and his allies have pushed back, highlighting civil-rights cases Sessions supported and showcasing support from black colleagues. At his recent confirmation hearing, Sessions described claims that he is racist as “damnably false.”
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