The Senate confirmed the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala) as our nation’s attorney general on the evening of February 8, by a near-party-line vote of …
Feb 09, 2017 · Bitter battle over attorney general 02:50. WASHINGTON --The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Sen. Jeff Sessions to be attorney general in the Trump administration despite fierce Democratic opposition ...
Feb 08, 2017 · The day after an unusually tense conflict on the Senate floor, the chamber voted 52-47 Wednesday evening to clear Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), whose record on civil and voting rights as a federal ...
He concluded: "Jeff Sessions has earned my support." The vote is scheduled for 6:50 p.m. Eastern. Watch a live stream of the Senate proceedings here or watch below:
Feb 08, 2017 · Feb. 9, 201700:27. The Senate voted Wednesday night to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, to become the nation's attorney general after three days of partisan acrimony over President Donald ...
In August 2012, Sessions married Karen Diebel, a 2010 congressional candidate in Florida and a Trump Administration appointee to the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Pete Sessions is not related to former Senator and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Mary Blackshear SessionsJeff Sessions / Wife (m. 1969)
5′ 5″Jeff Sessions / Height
Richard Shelby (Republican Party)Tommy Tuberville (Republican Party)Alabama/Senators
On November 7, 2018, Sessions tendered his resignation at Trump's request following months of public and private conflict with President Trump over his recusal from investigations relating to Russian election interference.
Matthew WhitakerPreceded byJeff SessionsSucceeded byWilliam BarrChief of Staff to the United States Attorney GeneralIn office September 22, 2017 – November 7, 201820 more rows
William BarrPresidentGeorge H. W. BushPreceded byDonald B. AyerSucceeded byGeorge J. Terwilliger IIIUnited States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel30 more rows
Selma, ALJeff Sessions / Place of birthSelma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 20,756 as of the 2010 census. About 80% of the population is African-American. Wikipedia
The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States. Under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution, the officeholder is nominated by the president of the United States, then appointed with the advice and consent of the United States Senate.
How often do senators up for reelection? A Senate term is six years long, so senators may choose to run for reelection every six years unless they are appointed or elected in a special election to serve the remainder of a term.
57 years (January 1, 1965)Terri Sewell / Age
Class II. Senators in Class II were elected to office in the November 2020 general election, unless they took their seat through appointment or special election. Their terms run from the beginning of the 117th Congress on January 3, 2021 to the end of the 119th Congress on January 3, 2027.
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.
Sessions replied that he was "not aware of any of those activities" and said "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have – did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."
Sessions and his wife Mary have three children and as of March 2020, ten grandchildren. The family attends a United Methodist church. Specifically, Jeff and Mary Sessions are members of the Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile, Alabama; Jeff Sessions has taught Sunday school there.
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.
Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose the nomination. In her letter, she wrote that "Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters.".
The idea that Sessions might have to recuse himself from the Russia investigation was raised almost as soon as he took office. Trump was concerned about the implications of such a recusal, reportedly telling aides that he needed a loyalist overseeing the investigation. In early March he told White House counsel Don McGahn to urge Sessions to retain oversight of the investigation, but Sessions told McGahn he intended to follow the advice of Justice Department lawyers.
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."
The Senate voted Wednesday night to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, to become the nation's attorney general after three days of partisan acrimony over President Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees.
Democrats, many of whom have worked with him in the Senate for years, opposed Sessions because of his positions on voting rights, immigration and women's health, among other issues. But their opposition wasn't enough to defeat his nomination, as it takes a simple majority to confirm Cabinet positions.
The unusual move to reprimand Warren for "impugning" Sessions came after she read aloud a letter by Coretta Scott King in opposition to his 1986 judicial nomination.
Republicans are frustrated with rules that have ground the process to a crawl. With little or no doubt about the outcome of the final votes, they see political grandstanding behind Democratic efforts to stall.
Democrats continued their floor speeches Wednesday in opposition to Sessions, but they also had additional momentum to support their colleague Warren. Warren's censure has further emboldened Democrats, even spurring the hashtag #ShePersisted, using the words of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kenrucky, as a badge of honor.
The Democrats' all-night session has been most wearing on the non-political employees who staff the Senate floor, including the stenographers, who are exhausted.