After dragging their collective feet for almost three weeks, the Senate has finally voted mostly along party lines (52-47) to confirm Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. The only Democrat to cross the line and vote for Sessions was Joe Manchin (D-WV). The entire process has been hotly debated and the Democrats have said some horrendous things about the man who has been their Senate colleague for some 20 years, but all of the smearing couldn’t keep Sessions from finally being confirmed.
The fight over Sessions nomination spurred some of the most jarring, and at times personal attacks, rooted in allegations that Sessions was a racist — claims the Alabama senator and his supporters have fiercely denied. Even early in the nomination process, one of Sessions’ colleagues, Cory Booker, became the first sitting senator to testify against another sitting senator during his confirmation hearing.
Wednesday’s vote came after a rowdy overnight session during which Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was formally chastised for allegedly impugning Sessions’ integrity on the floor.
Warren had read a letter authored in 1986 by Coretta Scott King, who was against Sessions’ nomination at the time to the federal bench, arguing he used the power of his office to “chill” black voting rights. Warren also quoted the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who originally had entered King’s letter into the record, describing Sessions as “disgraceful.”
Senator Sessions spoke to his colleagues shortly after their vote to confirm:
Tags: Jeff Sessions
Join the conversation!
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.