U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions Confirmed to Be U.S. Attorney General
Shortly after 6 o’clock tonight CST, the U.S. Senate confirmed Alabama U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions to become the nation’s next Attorney General. The vote was 52-47.
The vote came after a bitter debate. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell said Sessions is “honest” and “fair” — but Democrats questioned his civil rights record, and said he wouldn’t be willing to stand up to President Donald Trump.
Senate Democrats spent much of the day reading aloud on the Senate floor from a letter written decades ago by Martin Luther King’s widow — even though one of their colleagues, Elizabeth Warren, was silenced for doing the same thing last night. It criticized the record of Sessions on voting rights when he was a federal prosecutor.
With Sessions moving out of his U.S. Senate seat, it will now be up to Gov. Robert Bentley to name a replacement, who will serve until the 2018 election.
Bentley had earlier released a list of six finalists. They are: U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, ADECA Director Jim Byard, former State Rep. Perry Hooper, Jr., State President Pro Tem Del Marsh, State Rep. Connie Rowe and Attorney General Luther Strange. Some political insiders say Strange has the edge, but nothing has been confirmed from the Governor’s office.
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(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
