Alabama’s Jeff Sessions has officially been confirmed as the next U.S. Attorney General.
The GOP majority has fought hard to position Senator Sessions for a final floor vote. Since President Trump announced Sessions as his pick to lead the Justice Department, he has been pelted by debunked attacks questioning his record on civil rights. The charges have delayed his confirmation until Tuesday, when Senate leaders forced the process along.
The Senate voted on 52-47 to advance Sessions’ nomination by limiting debate. One Democrat sided with the GOP, while the Alabama Republican customarily voted “present.”
On Tuesday night, Sessions’ confirmation battle was front-and-center, as Republicans voted to cut off Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren’s speaking time. During a floor speech, she was accused by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R- Ky.) of impugning the Alabama Senator.
She had been quoting Coretta Scott-King and Ted Kennedy, who both wrote letters besmirching Sessions’ character and record on civil rights.
In a parliamentary move, Republican Senators voted have now forbidden Warren from addressing Sessions’ nomination again. It was allowable by Rule 19 of the Senate, which states that members of the body are not allowed to “directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.”
Sessions has served in the United States Senate since 1997, and prior to that was a US Attorney and Alabama Attorney General. He was the first U.S. Senator to endorse now-President Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
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