Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday told a crowd of hundreds of judges and attorneys from seven central states that “erroneous rulings” by biased federal judges have been costly to American taxpayers, and the former United States Senator from Alabama sharply criticized those who have obstructed some of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.
“Judges aren’t sent from Olympus. They’re not always correct,” Sessions said, while speaking during the conference in Des Moines, IA, per the Associated Press.
The Attorney General also denounced the escalating number of appeals courts that have issued nationwide injunctions on federal policy. Sessions said President Trump’s administration has been hit with 22 such injunctions in under two years in office. Prior to 1963, however, there were no national injunctions blocking policy, despite numerous hotly contested legal controversies.
As examples, he pointed to a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s sanctuary cities policy and decisions by federal judges that repeatedly impeded the President’s travel ban. The travel ban was eventually upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, affirming Trump’s right to safeguard the security of the nation.
“I’ve got to tell you, it’s not the duty of the courts to manage the executive branch or to pass judgment on every policy the executive branch was elected to carry out,” Sessions emphasized.
He continued, “I’m the top lawyer for the executive branch. It’s a coequal branch. It’s entitled to proper respect from the legislative and the judicial branch, too.”
Sessions outlined that the overreaching rulings, which are eventually overturned, are costly to taxpayers and delay actions taken by the Trump Administration. He also explained that these rulings provoke unwarranted criticism of the administration from the mainstream media and liberal advocacy groups.
“I may have withdrawal symptoms when this thing is over,” Sessions said. “The constant criticism kind of wakes you up in the morning. What are they going to say today?”
Dissenters protested outside the Iowa Events Center where Sessions spoke and earlier that day outside a meeting of the Des Moines Rotary Club, where he also spoke, to object to the administration’s stances on immigration, LGBTQ policies and voter rights.
Protesters held signs equating the Department of Justice to the Ku Klux Klan and chanted “No hate. No fear. No KKK. No racist USA.”
Their signs also depicted Sessions personally as a Klansman, with one reading “Sessions Out” and another saying “No human is illegal.”
“I think the rule of law is one of the great things that separates this country from almost any other on Earth,” Sessions told the conference’s attendees.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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