Feb 08, 2017 · The Senate confirmed Jeff Sessions as the next attorney general Wednesday evening by a vote of 52-47, mostly along party lines. The one Democrat who voted in support of Sessions was Sen. Joe...
On February 8, 2017, Sessions was confirmed as attorney general by a vote of 52 to 47. The next day, he was sworn in into his new post. Tenure
Feb 08, 2017 · The Senate narrowly approved the Alabama Republican’s nomination on a 52-47 vote, the latest in a series of confirmation votes that …
Nov 08, 2018 · Jeff Sessions was sworn in at the White House in early February as the U.S. attorney general. The Senate approved Trump's nominee by a largely party-line vote of 52-47. One Democrat, Sen. Joe ...
Feb 04, 2021 · Favorable (Voice Vote) 93-2: Confirmed on January 22, 2021 Merrick Garland: Attorney General: January 7, 2021: Judiciary: February 22-23, 2021: Favorable (15-7) 70-30: Confirmed on March 10, 2021 Debra Haaland: Secretary of the Interior: December 17, 2020: Energy and Natural Resources: February 23-24, 2021: Favorable (11-9) 51-40: Confirmed on …
Jeff Sessions | |
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In office February 9, 2017 – November 7, 2018 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Deputy | Dana Boente (acting) Rod Rosenstein |
Preceded by | Loretta Lynch |
Sessions was elected Attorney General of Alabama in November 1994, unseating incumbent Democrat Jimmy Evans with 57% of the vote. The harsh criticism he had received from Senator Edward Kennedy, who called him a "throw-back to a shameful era" and a "disgrace", was considered to have won him the support of Alabama conservatives.
Trump would later state in an August 22, 2018 interview with Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt that the only reason he nominated Sessions was because Sessions was an original supporter during his presidential campaign. The nomination engendered support and opposition from various groups and individuals. He was introduced by Senator Susan Collins from Maine who said, "He's a decent individual with a strong commitment to the rule of law. He's a leader of integrity. I think the attacks against him are not well founded and are unfair." More than 1,400 law school professors wrote a letter urging the Senate to reject the nomination. A group of black pastors rallied in support of Sessions in advance of his confirmation hearing; his nomination was supported by Gerald A. Reynolds, an African American former chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Six NAACP activists, including NAACP President Cornell William Brooks, were arrested at a January 2017 sit-in protesting the nomination.
Trump often hinted he wanted to fire Sessions, perhaps after the November 2018 elections. Sessions told associates he did not intend to resign, but on November 7, 2018, he submitted a letter of resignation to Chief of Staff John Kelly at President Trump's request.
On April 3, 2017 , Sessions announced that he intended to review consent decrees in which local law enforcement agencies had agreed to Department oversight. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar then denied Sessions's request to delay a new consent decree with the Baltimore Police Department.
On March 27, 2017, Sessions told reporters that sanctuary cities failing to comply with policies of the Trump administration would lose federal funding, and cited the shooting of Kathryn Steinle as an example of an illegal immigrant committing a heinous crime.
In a May 2017 letter, Sessions personally asked congressional leaders to repeal the Rohrabacher–Farr amendment so that the Justice Department could prosecute providers of medical marijuana. The Rohrabacher–Farr amendment is a 2014 measure that bars the Justice Department from using federal funds to prevent states "from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana". Sessions wrote in the letter that "I believe it would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the Department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime." John Hudak of the Brookings Institution criticized the letter, stating that it was a "scare tactic" that "should make everyone openly question whether candidate Trump's rhetoric and the White House's words on his support for medical marijuana was actually a lie to the American public on an issue that garners broad, bipartisan support."
In 1996, Sessions promoted state legislation in Alabama that sought to punish a second drug trafficking conviction, including for dealing marijuana, with a mandatory minimum death sentence. Sessions's views on drugs and crime have since softened.
attorney general. The Senate approved Trump's nominee by a largely party-line vote of 52-47. One Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, joined Republicans in confirming Sessions.
His resignation was announced one day after the 2018 midterm elections. Here's everything you need to know about Sessions:
He is anti-abortion, is a major opponent of same-sex marriage and is known for the Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize funding through 2018 to help victims of child abuse. Sessions said, "There is no higher duty than protecting our nation's children.".
Sessions attended a foreign policy address given by Trump at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. in April 2016 during the campaign. Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak was also at the address, but the Justice Department has denied that Sessions spoke privately with the Ambassador that day.
When former FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June, he told the committee that the FBI had information in February that would have made it “problematic” for Sessions to continue leading the investigation into Russian influence over the 2016 election.
The Senate confirmed him on March 10, 2021, by a vote of 70-30. The Biden Transition said in a press release, "A consensus-building voice, Judge Garland has worked under Democratic and Republican administrations.
The confirmation process includes several rounds of investigation and review, beginning with the submission of a personal financial disclosure report and a background check. The nominee is then evaluated in a committee hearing, which allows for a close examination of the nominee and his or her views on public policy.
All cabinet-level officials, except the White House chief of staff, require Senate confirmation, including: the secretaries of agriculture, commerce, defense, education, energy, health and human services, homeland security, housing and urban development, interior, labor, state, transportation, treasury, and veterans affairs, as well as the attorney general, director of the Office of Management and Budget, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S.
Before a nomination may move to the Hill, the candidate must submit several forms and undergo a fair amount of vetting by the White House and FBI.
1) A nomination is given to the relevant Senate committee. The Senate Judiciary Committee, for example, handles the attorney general nomination.
The GOP barely kept its majority in the Senate after this year's elections, and rejections of major appointments are rare. Republicans have 52 seats, but that number includes Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who is Trump's pick for attorney general.
Hearings for several Cabinet picks started in January before the inauguration. Nominees were not permitted to be confirmed, however, until after the president was sworn in on Jan. 20. A number of nominees have been voted on, confirmed and sworn in. A full list of those who require Senate confirmation and their status is below.
The 54 senators voting “yes”, thereby confirming Barr as attorney general, represent 48 percent of voting age Americans, or 107 million people.
Democrats Joe Manchin, Doug Jones and Kyrsten Sinema voted to confirm Barr and one Republican, Rand Paul, voted against Barr.