Jeff Sessions | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |
| 84thUnited States Attorney General | |
| In office February 9, 2017 – November 7, 2018 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy |
|
| Preceded by | Loretta Lynch |
| Succeeded by | William Barr |
| United States Senator fromAlabama | |
| In office January 3, 1997 – February 8, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Howell Heflin |
| Succeeded by | Luther Strange |
| 44thAttorney General of Alabama | |
| In office January 16, 1995 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Governor | Fob James |
| Preceded by | Jimmy Evans |
| Succeeded by | William H. Pryor Jr. |
| United States Attorney for theSouthern District of Alabama | |
| In office February 1981 – March 23, 1993 | |
| President | |
| Preceded by | William Kimbrough |
| Succeeded by | Don Foster |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (1946-12-24)December 24, 1946 (age 78) Selma, Alabama, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 1973–1977 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | 1184th United States Army Transportation Terminal Unit |
Sessions delivering his first message toU.S. Justice Department employees as attorney general. Recorded February 10, 2017 | |
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84thUnited States attorney general from 2017 to 2018. A member of theRepublican Party, he previously served asUnited States senator fromAlabama from 1997 to 2017 before resigning that position to serve as attorney general in the firstadministration of PresidentDonald Trump. Trump fired Sessions in 2018 due to his inaction and recusal from the Russian collusion probes.
From 1981 to 1993, Sessions served as theU.S. attorney for theSouthern District of Alabama. In 1986, PresidentRonald Reagan nominated Sessions to a judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. After allegations of racism were made against him in testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, which Sessions denied, the committee voted against advancing his nomination to the Senate floor; the nomination was later withdrawn. Sessions was electedattorney general of Alabama in 1994. In1996, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and was re-elected in2002,2008 and2014. During his Senate tenure, Sessions was considered one of the mostconservative senators. His Senate voting record includes votes againstcomprehensive immigration reform (2006), the 2008bank bailout, theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, theAffordable Care Act (2009) and criminal justice reform (2015).
Sessions was an early supporter of Trump's2016 presidential campaign; he was nominated by Trump for the post of U.S. Attorney General. He was confirmed and sworn in as attorney general in February 2017. In his confirmation hearings, Sessions stated under oath that he did not have contact with Russian officials during the2016 presidential campaign and that he was unaware of any contact between Trump campaign members and Russian officials. However, in March 2017, news reports revealed that Sessions had twice met with Russian ambassadorSergey Kislyak in 2016. Sessions later recused himself from any investigations intoRussian interference in the 2016 United States elections. As attorney general, Sessions rescinded a memo issued by one of his predecessors,Eric Holder, that had sought to curbmass incarceration by avoidingmandatory sentencing for drug crimes; he ordered federal prosecutors to begin seeking the maximum criminal charges possible. A staunch opponent ofillegal immigration, Sessions adopted a hard line onsanctuary cities and told reporters that cities failing to comply with federal immigration policy would lose federal funding. He also played a key role in the implementation of the Trump administration family separation policy. Trump issued anexecutive order revoking the cities' funding, but that order was overturned by a federal court. Sessions also supportedDepartment of Justice prosecutions ofmedical marijuana providers.
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. Sessions ran in the2020 Senate election in Alabama to reclaim his old seat, but lost in the Republican primary toTommy Tuberville, who was supported by President Trump.
Sessions was born inSelma, Alabama, on December 24, 1946,[1] the son of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions Jr. and the former Abbie Powe.[2] Sessions, his father, and his grandfather were named afterJefferson Davis, a U.S. senator and president of theConfederate States of America,[3] andP. G. T. Beauregard, a veteran of theMexican–American War and a Confederate general who oversaw theBattle of Fort Sumter that commenced theAmerican Civil War.[4] His father owned ageneral store inHybart, Alabama, and later owned a farm equipment dealership.[5] In 1964, Sessions became anEagle Scout, and later, he earned theDistinguished Eagle Scout Award for his many years of service.[6]
After attendingWilcox County High School in nearbyCamden,[7] Sessions studied atHuntingdon College in Montgomery, graduating with aBachelor of Arts in 1969. He was active in theYoung Republicans, the marching band and was student body president.[8] Sessions attended theUniversity of Alabama School of Law and graduated with aJuris Doctor in 1973.[9]
Sessions entered theprivate practice of law inRussellville and later inMobile.[10][11] He also served in the Army Reserve in the 1970s with the rank of captain.[10]
Sessions served as anassistant United States attorney in theOffice of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama beginning in 1975. In 1981, President Reagan nominated him to be the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. The Senateconfirmed him and he held that position for twelve years. In 1993, Sessions resigned his post after DemocratBill Clinton was elected President of the United States.[12]
Sessions's office filed civil rights charges in the 1981 killing ofMichael Donald, a youngAfrican American man who was murdered inMobile, Alabama, by a pair ofKu Klux Klan members.[13][14] Sessions's office did not prosecute the case, as homicide is prosecuted by the state government, but both men were arrested and convicted.[15]
In 1985, Sessions prosecuted three African American community organizers in theBlack Belt of Alabama, includingMartin Luther King Jr.'s former aideAlbert Turner, forvoter fraud, alleging tampering with 14 absentee ballots. The prosecution stirred charges of selective prosecution of black voter registration. The defendants, known as the Marion Three, were acquitted of all charges by a jury after three hours of deliberation. HistorianWayne Flynt toldThe Washington Post he regarded concerns about tactics employed in the 1984 election and by Turner in particular as legitimate, but also noted Sessions had no history of advocating for black voter rights before 1984.[16][17] Interviewed in 2009, Sessions said he remained convinced that he did the right thing, but admitted he "failed to make the case".[18]
In 1986, Reagan nominated Sessions to be aUnited States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.[19] Sessions's judicial nomination was recommended and actively backed by Republican Alabama senatorJeremiah Denton.[20] A substantial majority of theAmerican Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which rates nominees to the federal bench, rated Sessions "qualified", with a minority voting that Sessions was "not qualified".[21] His nomination was opposed by the NAACP, theLeadership Conference on Civil Rights, andPeople for the American Way.[17]
At Sessions's confirmation hearings before theSenate Judiciary Committee, four Department of Justice lawyers who had worked with Sessions testified that he made racially offensive remarks. One of those lawyers, J. Gerald Hebert, testified that Sessions had referred to theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and theAmerican Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as "un-American" and "Communist-inspired" (Sessions said he was referring to their support of theSandinistas[22]) and that they did more harm than good by trying to force civil rights "down the throats of people".[23] Hebert, a civil rights lawyer,[24] said that he did not consider Sessions a racist, and that Sessions "has a tendency sometimes to just say something, and I believe these comments were along that vein."[25] Hebert also said that Sessions had called a white civil rights attorney "maybe" a "disgrace to his race". Sessions said he did not recall making that remark and he did not believe it.[22]
Thomas Figures, a black assistant U.S. attorney, testified that Sessions said he thought theKu Klux Klan was "OK until I found out they smokedpot". Sessions later said that the comment was not serious, but did apologize for it, saying that he considered the Klan to be "a force for hatred and bigotry".[26] Barry Kowalski, a prosecutor in the civil rights division, also heard the remark and testified that prosecutors working such a gruesome case sometimes "resort to operating room humor and that is what I considered it to be". Another DOJ lawyer, Albert Glenn, said, "It never occurred to me that there was any seriousness to it."[27][22][25][26] Figures testified that on one occasion, when theU.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division sent the office instructions to investigate a case that Sessions had tried to close, Figures and Sessions "had a very spirited discussion regarding how the Hodge case should then be handled; in the course of that argument, Mr. Sessions threw the file on a table, and remarked, 'I wish I could decline on all of them'", by which Figures said Sessions meant civil rights cases generally. Kowalski, however, testified that he believed "[Sessions] was eager to see that justice was done in the area of criminal civil rights prosecutions."[27]
Figures also said that Sessions had called him "boy", which Sessions denied. Figures testified that two assistant prosecutors had also heard Sessions, including current federal judgeGinny Granade. Granade denied this.[19][28] He also testified that "Mr. Sessions admonished me to 'be careful what you say to white folks.'" Sessions denied this.[29] In 1992, Figures was charged with attempting to bribe a witness by offering $50,000 to a convicted drug dealer who was to testify against his client. Figures claimed the charge was retaliation for his role in blocking the Sessions nomination. Sessions denied this, saying that he recused himself from the case. Figures was ultimately acquitted.[30][31][32]
Hebert, Kowalski and Daniel Bell, deputy chief of the criminal section in the Civil Rights Division, testified that they considered Sessions to have been more welcoming to the work of the Civil Rights Division than many other SouthernU.S. attorneys at the time.[22][25] Sessions has always defended his civil rights record, saying that "when I was [a U.S. attorney], I signed 10 pleadings attackingsegregation or the remnants of segregation, where we as part of the Department of Justice, we soughtdesegregation remedies."[33] Critics later argued that Sessions had exaggerated his involvement in civil rights cases.Michigan Law professorSamuel Bagenstos, reviewing Sessions's claims, argued that "[a]ll this shows is that Sessions didn't completely refuse to participate in or have his name on pleadings in cases that the civil rights division brought during his tenure ... These four cases are awfully weak evidence of Sessions's supposed commitment to civil rights."[34]
Coretta Scott King, the widow ofMartin 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."[35]
On June 5, 1986, the committee voted 10–8 against recommending the nomination to the Senate floor, with Republican senatorsCharles Mathias ofMaryland andArlen Specter ofPennsylvania voting with the Democrats. It then split 9–9 on a vote to send Sessions's nomination to the Senate floor with no recommendation, this time with Specter in support. A majority was required for the nomination to proceed.[36] The pivotal votes against Sessions came from his home state's Democratic senatorHowell Heflin of Alabama. Although Heflin had previously backed Sessions, he began to oppose Sessions after hearing testimony, concluding that there were "reasonable doubts" over Sessions's ability to be "fair and impartial". The nomination was withdrawn on July 31, 1986.[21]
Sessions became only the second nominee to thefederal judiciary in 48 years whose nomination was killed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.[26] He was quoted then as saying that the Senate on occasion had been insensitive to the rights and reputation of nominees.[37] A law clerk from the U.S. District Court in Mobile who had worked with Sessions later acknowledged the confirmation controversy, but stated that he observed Sessions as "a lawyer of the highest ethical and intellectual standards".[38]
When Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania left the GOP to join the Democratic Party on April 28, 2009, Sessions was selected to be the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee. At that time, Specter said that his vote against Sessions's 1986 federal judicial nomination had been a mistake, adding that he had later found Sen. Sessions to be an "egalitarian".[39]
Sessions was electedattorney general of Alabama in November 1994, unseating incumbent DemocratJimmy Evans with 57% of the vote. The harsh criticism he had received from SenatorTed 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.
As attorney general, Sessions defended the state in a litigation that challenged the funding system for Alabama's public schools. The litigation resulted in the creation of a new funding system after "Judge Eugene W. Reese found the state's education funding unconstitutional and ordered lawmakers to come up with a system to remedy inequities between rich and poor schools."[40][41][42]
As attorney general in 1995, Sessions defended a newly passed state law denying access to meeting space and student group funding forGay-Straight Alliances at the state's public universities, stating that "an organization that professes to be comprised of homosexuals and/or lesbians may not receive state funding or use state-supported facilities to foster or promote those illegal, sexually deviant activities defined in the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws."[43] The U.S. District court ruled against the state law as a violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution inGay Lesbian Bisexual Alliance v. Sessions, 917 F. Supp. 1548 (1996).[44]
In1996, Sessions won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, after a runoff, and then defeated DemocratRoger Bedford 53%–46% in the November general election.[8] He succeeded DemocratHowell Heflin, who had retired after 18 years in the Senate, making his victory a Republican pickup in the Senate.
Inthe February 1999 impeachment trial, Sessions voted to convict PresidentBill Clinton on botharticles ofimpeachment, forperjury andobstruction of justice. However Clinton was acquitted on both charges by the Senate.
Following theColumbine High School massacre in April 1999, Sessions took part in the Senate's Subcommittee that investigated the massacre. Sessions blamed violentvideo games, movies and music, especially that ofMarilyn Manson, and parts of culture for the actions of thetwo shooters.[45]
In2002, Sessions won reelection by defeating Democratic state auditorSusan Parker. In2008, Sessions defeated Democraticstate senatorVivian Davis Figures (sister-in-law of Thomas Figures, the assistant U.S. attorney who testified at Sessions's judicial confirmation hearing) to win a third term. Sessions received 63% of the vote to Figures's 37%. Sessions successfully sought a fourth term in2014.[46] In 2014, Sessions was uncontested in the Republican primary and was only opposed in the general election by write-in Democratic candidate Victor Sanchez Williams.[47][48][49][50]
Sessions was only the second freshman Republican senator from Alabama sinceReconstruction and gave Alabama two Republican senators, a first since Reconstruction. In 2002, he became the first Republican reelected to the Senate from Alabama since Reconstruction (given that his colleagueRichard Shelby, who won reelection as a Republican in1998, had previously run as a Democrat, switching parties in 1994).[49]
Sessions was the ranking Republican member on the Senate Budget Committee,[51] a former ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a senior member of theArmed Services Committee. He also served on theEnvironment and Public Works Committee.
According toOpenSecrets, between 1995 and 2016, Sessions's largest donors came from the legal, health, real estate, and insurance industries.[52] From 1995 to 2016, the corporations employing donors who gave the most to his campaign were theSouthern Company utility firm, the Balch & Bingham law firm, theDrummond Company coal mining firm, Collazo Enterprises, andVulcan Materials.[53]
Sessions was an early supporter of the presidential candidacy ofDonald Trump, and was a major policy adviser to the Trump campaign, especially in regard to immigration and national security.[55] He was on theshort list to become Trump's running mate and was widely seen as a potential Cabinet secretary in a Trump administration.[55]
Sessions donned a "Make America Great Again" cap at a Trump rally in August 2015, andStephen Miller, Sessions's long-time communications director, joined the Trump campaign.[56] On February 28, 2016, Sessions officially endorsed Trump for president. Session's endorsement further legitimized Trump's campaign, as he was the first and only sitting U.S. Senator to endorse him during the primary. Sessions's andRudy Giuliani's appearance was a staple at Trump campaign rallies.[57] Uncorroborated Russian communications intercepted by U.S. intelligence agencies discuss AmbassadorSergey Kislyak meeting privately with Sessions at theMayflower Hotel during a Trump campaign event in April 2016.[58]
During thetransition, Sessions played a large role in appointments and policy preparation relative to space,NASA and related facilities in Alabama,[59] whilePeter Thiel advocated forprivate spaceflight.[60]
President-elect Trump announced on November 18, 2016, that he would nominate Sessions to be Attorney General of the United States.[61] 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.[62] The nomination engendered support and opposition from various groups and individuals. He was introduced by SenatorSusan 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."[63] More than 1,400law school professors wrote a letter urging the Senate to reject the nomination.[64][65] A group of black pastors rallied in support of Sessions in advance of his confirmation hearing;[66] his nomination was supported byGerald A. Reynolds, an African American former chairman of theUnited States Commission on Civil Rights.[65] SixNAACP activists, including NAACP PresidentCornell William Brooks, were arrested at a January 2017sit-in protesting the nomination.[67][68]
On January 10, 2017, theSenate Judiciary Committee hearings on his nomination began[69] and were interrupted by protesters.[70][71] The committee approved his nomination February 1 on an 11–9 party-line vote.[72] The nomination then went to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.[73] The vote on Sessions was delayed until after the vote on Secretary of Education nomineeBetsy DeVos, because his confirmation – and subsequent resignation from the Senate – would create a temporary vacancy, which otherwise would have jeopardized DeVos's narrow confirmation.[74] On February 7, 2017, Senate majority leaderMitch McConnell stopped SenatorElizabeth Warren from reading statements opposing Sessions's nomination as federal judge that had been made byTed Kennedy andCoretta Scott King. Warren was then officially rebuked perSenate Rule XIX on a party-line vote for "impugning a fellow senator's character".[75] In silencing Warren, McConnell uttered the phrase "Nevertheless, she persisted"; the phrase was later adopted by the feminist movement in referring to women's persistence in breaking barriers.[76] A few hours later SenatorJeff Merkley read without interruption the same letter by King that Warren had attempted to read.[77][78]
On February 8, 2017, Sessions was confirmed as attorney general by a vote of 52 to 47.[79][80] The next day, he was sworn in into his new post.
On March 10, 2017, Sessions oversaw the firing of 46United States attorneys. His acting deputy,Dana Boente, and Deputy Attorney General nomineeRod Rosenstein remained in place after Trump declined their resignations.[81]
On April 10, 2017, Sessions disbanded the National Commission on Forensic Science and ended the department's review of forensic accuracy in closed cases.[82]
Sessions imposed a hiring freeze on most of theUnited States Department of Justice Criminal Division and U.S. attorneys' offices, and placed a total hiring freeze on the Department's Fraud Section.[83] On April 24, 2017, Sessions traveled to an ethics lawyers' conference to assure them the department would continue prosecutions under theForeign Corrupt Practices Act, regardless of Trump's comments that the law is a "horrible law" and that "the world is laughing at us".[83]
On May 9, 2017, Sessions delivered a memo to the president recommending that Trump fire FBI directorJames Comey, attaching a memo by Deputy Attorney GeneralRod Rosenstein which called the Director's behavior indefensible. Trumpfired Comey that day.[84] In March 2017, Sessions had recused himself from investigations into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. Comey was leading the investigations prior to his dismissal.[85][86]
On June 5, 2017, Sessions issued a memo preventing the Justice Department's futurelawsuit settlements from including funding for third parties. Such settlement funding had been made available for the cleanup of theDeepwater Horizon oil spill and theVolkswagen emissions scandal.[87]
In a November 2017 overview of his tenure in theWashington Post, Sessions was described as having made "dramatic and controversial changes [which] reflect his nationalist ideology and hard-line views".[88]
In a speech on 5 December 2017, Sessions described a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal involving a Malaysian state fund (1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal) as the worst form of kleptocracy, and said the DoJ was working to provide justice to the victims. He said: "This is kleptocracy at its worst."[89][90]
On December 21, 2017, Sessions rescinded 200 pages of guidance documents. Some of those 25 guidance documents had included warnings to avoid imposing excessive fees on the poor, to refrain from shipping some guns across state lines, and to encourage accommodation of the developmentally disabled.[91] Sessions's recessions were criticized by theUnited States Commission on Civil Rights and prompted a lawsuit by theCity Attorney of San Francisco.[92][93] In 2018, Sessions shuttered the Justice Department's Office for Access to Justice, which had focused onlegal aid.[94]
On November 7, 2018, Sessions resigned at President Trump's behest. It has been reported that his letter of resignation had also been submitted on a prior occasion.[95][96]
During Sessions'sJudiciary Committee confirmation hearing on January 10, SenatorAl Franken asked him what he would do as attorney general "if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign". Franken was referring to a news report alleging that Russia had compromising material on Trump, and that Trump surrogates were in contact with the Russian government. 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."[97][98] A week later, in his responses to written questions presented by SenatorPatrick Leahy, Sessions stated that he had not been "in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election".[99][100]
On March 1, 2017, reports surfaced that Sessions had contact with Russian government officials during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, even though during hisconfirmation hearings he denied he had any discussions with representatives of the Russian government.[101] News reports revealed that Sessions had spoken twice with Russia's ambassador to the United States,Sergey Kislyak.[101][102] The first communication took place after aHeritage Foundation event at the2016 Republican National Convention attended by several ambassadors, including Kislyak who spoke with Sessions. The second interaction took place on September 8, 2016, when they met in Sessions's office;[103] Sessions said they discussed Ukraine and terrorism.[104] Sessions released a statement on March 1, 2017, saying "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."[105][106][107] U.S. Justice Department spokeswomanSarah Isgur Flores said: "There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer. He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign – not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee ... Last year, the Senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors."[105][106][108]
Upon the revelation that Sessions had met twice with the Russian ambassador, Republican senatorLindsey Graham called for Sessions to recuse himself from any investigations into the connections between Russia and the Trump campaign.[109] Several Democratic members of Congress called on Sessions to resign his post as United States attorney general.[110][111] RepresentativesNancy Pelosi andElijah Cummings and SenatorAl Franken accused Sessions of having lied under oath at his confirmation hearing.[112][113][114]
On March 20, 2017,FBI directorJames Comey testified in front of theHouse Intelligence Committee that since July 2016, the FBI had been conducting a counter-intelligence investigation to assess the extent of Russia's interference into the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump associates played a role in Russia's efforts.[115] In May 2017 the Justice Department reported that Sessions had failed to disclose meetings with Russian officials during the presidential campaign in 2016, when he applied for his security clearance. Sessions's staff had been advised by the FBI that meetings with foreign dignitaries and their staff connected with his Senate activities did not need to be disclosed.[116][117][118]
On June 13, 2017, Sessions testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee after canceling testimonies before theHouse andSenate Committees on Appropriations.[119][120][121] Sessions rejected reports he had met with Russian Ambassador Kislyak during Trump's April 2016 speech at theMayflower Hotel inWashington, D.C., testifying that he did not remember any "brief interaction" he may have had with the ambassador.[122] Accused of "stonewalling" by SenatorRon Wyden, Sessions discussed theexecutive privilege power, and said that he was refusing to answer questions about his conversations with Trump because "I am protecting the President's right to assert it if he chooses."[123][124] He was being advised by his personal lawyerCharles J. Cooper.[125]
In July 2017,The Washington Post reported that Kislyak, in communications intercepted by U.S. intelligence, had told his superiors in Moscow that his conversations with Sessions had concerned Trump's campaign as well as "Trump's positions on Russia-related issues".[126] Previously, after initially denying having met with Kisylak at all, Sessions had repeatedly asserted that in his meetings with the Russian ambassador he never discussed the campaign and only met with him in his capacity as a U.S. senator.[126][127] TheDepartment of Justice responded by saying that Sessions stood by his testimony that he "never met with or had any conversations with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election".[128]
In March 2016, one of Trump's foreign policy advisors namedGeorge Papadopoulos suggested that he could use personal connections to arrange a meeting with Russian presidentVladimir Putin, and Sessions rejected the proposed meeting, according to information provided toCNN by a person in attendance.[129] This raised questions on the truthfulness of Sessions's testimony and whether Sessions committedperjury during his testimony.[130][131] Furthermore, on the same day, testimony given byCarter Page to the House intelligence committee contradicted Sessions's previous statements by stating that he had told Sessions about plans to visit Russia during the campaign.[132][133]
Beginning in March 2017, senators asked the FBI to conduct a criminalperjury investigation into Sessions.[134] Deputy DirectorAndrew McCabe then assigned FBI agents to investigate.[135] According to Sessions's personal lawyer, the investigation concluded without charges being brought.[135]
On March 16, 2018, Sessions fired McCabe hours before the deputy director would have qualified for a government pension, citing McCabe's lack of candor to thedepartment's inspector general.[136]
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.[137] In early March he told White House counselDon McGahn to urge Sessions to retain oversight of the investigation, but Sessions told McGahn he intended to follow the advice of Justice Department lawyers.[138]
On March 2, 2017, Sessions announced that he would recuse himself from any investigations into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, or any other matters related to the 2016 presidential election.[139] He had been advised to do so by career Justice Department personnel, citing concerns about impartiality given his prominent role in the Trump election campaign.[137] When told that a special counsel had been appointed, the president slumped back in his chair and said, "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I'm fucked," then elaborating, “Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won’t be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.”[140] That same day,The Wall Street Journal reported that Sessions' contacts with Russians had been investigated, but it was not clear whether the investigation was ongoing.[141] Sessions said during a televised interview that the recusal was not an admission of any wrongdoing.[142] On June 8, 2017, James Comey, who had been dismissed as FBI director a month earlier, testified before theSenate Intelligence Committee that he had expected Sessions to recuse himself from the Russia investigation two weeks before he did so, for classified reasons that made Sessions's continued engagement in the investigation "problematic".[143]
A few days after he announced his recusal, Sessions traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump. Sessions wanted to talk about implementing Trump's proposed travel ban, but instead Trump berated him for recusing himself and asked him to reverse his recusal. Sessions refused.[144] In May 2017, Sessions offered to resign after receiving criticism from Trump, but Trump did not accept the resignation.[145]
For the rest of Sessions's tenure, Trump continued to be furious with him for his recusal, blaming it for the appointment ofRobert Mueller as special counsel by Deputy Attorney GeneralRod Rosenstein.[146] Trump publicly attacked Sessions multiple times via Twitter and in public comments, saying he regretted choosing him as attorney general and that he never would have done so if he had known Sessions was going to recuse himself from the investigation.[147][148] According toBob Woodward's bookFear: Trump in the White House, Trump called Sessions "mentally retarded" and described him as a "dumb southerner".[149][150] Trump denied ever using "these terms on anyone", although he had been recorded using the word "retarded" as an insult on two episodes ofThe Howard Stern Show.[150]
In addition to criticizing him, Trump often used Twitter to suggest things he thought Sessions should do or to criticize Justice Department actions.[151] According to SenatorJeff Flake, "the president has been pushing [Sessions] very openly to go after the president's enemies and lay off his friends," adding "And so far, Jeff Sessions, bless his heart, has resisted and maintained that the judiciary needs to be independent."[152] Trump demanded that Sessions investigateHillary Clinton,Barack Obama, and various employees of the FBI and Justice Department. In August 2018 he said that Sessions should "stop" the Mueller investigation. He later tweeted that "Our A.G. is scared stiff and Missing in Action."[151] In an August interview Trump complained that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department", to which Sessions in a rare response said "While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. ... I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in."[153]
On September 3, 2018, Trump complained on Twitter that "investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time." Many lawmakers, including Republican senators, said Trump's remark was inappropriate, and a spokesperson for House speakerPaul Ryan said the Justice Department "should always remain apolitical".[154]
Trump often hinted he wanted to fire Sessions, perhaps after the November 2018 elections. Sessions told associates he did not intend to resign,[154] but on November 7, 2018, he submitted a letter of resignation to Chief of StaffJohn Kelly at President Trump's request.
On April 3, 2017, Sessions announced that he intended to reviewconsent decrees in which local law enforcement agencies had agreed to Department oversight.[155] U.S. district judgeJames K. Bredar then denied Sessions's request to delay a new consent decree with theBaltimore Police Department.[156]
On May 12, 2017, Sessions ordered federal prosecutors to begin seeking the greatest criminal charges possible in drug cases.[157] The new guidelines rescinded a memo by Attorney GeneralEric Holder that had sought to reducemass incarceration by avoidingmandatory sentencing.[158]
On July 19, 2017, Sessions signed an order reviving federally adoptedcivil asset forfeiture, which allows local law enforcement to bypass state limitations on seizing the property of those suspected but not charged of crimes.[159]
In September 2017, the Justice Department under Sessions stated that it would no longer investigate police departments and publicize their shortcomings in reports, a policy previously enacted under the Obama administration. These reports were the basis of negotiating consent decrees.[160]
On December 22, 2017, Sessions rescinded guidelines intended to warn local courts against imposing excessive fines and fees on poor defendants.[161]
Sessions has brought prominence to prosecutions of theMS-13 gang.[162]
In February 2018, Sessions sent a public letter to SenatorChuck Grassley (R-IA) opposing the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman's bipartisanSentencing Reform and Corrections Act bill.[163] Sessions opposed White House senior advisorJared Kushner's support for the reforms until Kushner reportedly agreed to focus instead on improving prison conditions.[163]
On March 20, 2018, Sessions signed a memo instructing federal prosecutors to seekcapital punishment on major drug dealers.[164][165]
In November 2018, just before Sessions was fired by Trump, Sessions ordered for consent decrees to be severely restricted.[166]
In June 2020, Sessions asserted that former president Barack Obama had coddled criminals while disrespecting law enforcement. He characterized an episode in which "there's a riot, and he has a beer at the White House with some criminal, to listen to him. Wasn't having a beer with the police officers." In July 2009, a brief uproar arose after a black Harvard professor,Henry Louis Gates, wasarrested by a white police officer as Gates attempted to enter his own home. Obama hosted both men at the White House to discuss the incident over beers.[167][168]
On March 27, 2017, Sessions told reporters that sanctuary cities failing to comply with policies of the Trump administration would lose federal funding, and cited theshooting of Kathryn Steinle as an example of an illegal immigrant committing a heinous crime.[169]
On April 11, 2017, Sessions issued a memo for federal attorneys to consider prosecuting anyone harboring an illegal immigrant. On the same day, while at an entry border port inNogales, Arizona, Sessions insisted the new administration would implement policies against those continuing "to seek improper and illegal entry into this country".[170] On April 21, nine sanctuary cities were sent letters by the Justice Department giving them a deadline of June 30 to provide an explanation of how their policies were not in violation of the law, and Sessions hours later warned "enough is enough" inSan Diego amid his tour of the U.S.–Mexico border.[171] Two days later, Sessions said that reducing false tax credits given to "mostly Mexicans" could pay for the U.S.–Mexico border and it would be paid for "one way or the other".[172]
Sessions attempted to block funding tosanctuary cities. Sessions also threatened to criminally prosecute uncooperative local officials.[173] Federal judges in Chicago, San Francisco, and Philadelphia have rejected Sessions's efforts.[174][175]
On March 6, 2018, Sessions sued the state of California in federal district court, alleging that the state's laws regarding prisoner release, workplace inspection, and detention site inspection arepreempted by the federal government's immigration policy.[176][177][178]
Sessions played an important role in implementing theTrump administration family separation policy wherein illegal immigrants were separated from their children.[179] In June 2018, Sessions gave a speech in which he cited theBible to justify the family separation policy, declaring that people should "obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order."[180] Christian leaders strongly disagreed with the policy, with CardinalDaniel DiNardo calling it "immoral", ReverendFranklin Graham calling it "disgraceful", and Bishop Kenneth Carter of Session's own church (the United Methodist Church) calling it "unnecessarily cruel". Bible scholar and professor Matthew Schlimm said that history was being repeated as Sessions had taken the quote "completely out of context" just as slave traders and Nazis had misused the Bible in the past.[181] Sessions sought to distance himself from the family separation policy, letting others in the administration take the blame.[179]
On June 11, 2018, Sessions reversed a decision by theBoard of Immigration Appeals granting a battered woman asylum and announced that victims of domestic abuse or gang violence will no longer qualify forasylum in the United States. He stated that "[t]he mere fact that a country may have problems effectively policing certain crimes – such as domestic violence or gang violence – or that certain populations are more likely to be victims of crime, cannot itself establish an asylum claim."[182][183]Domestic violence victims had been eligible for asylum since 2014.[184] According toThe New Yorker, legal experts estimated that "Sessions had single-handedly dismantled between sixty and seventy per cent of asylum jurisprudence from the previous three decades."[185]
In April 2017, while on a radio talk show, Sessions said that he was "amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power".[186] This was in reference toDerrick Watson, a judge for theUnited States District Court for the District of Hawaii, blocking an executive order by President Trump. After receiving criticism for the remark,[187] Sessions said there is nothing he "would want to phrase differently" and that he "wasn't criticizing the judge or the island".[187]
In a May 2017 letter, Sessions personally asked congressional leaders to repeal theRohrabacher–Farr amendment so that the Justice Department could prosecute providers ofmedical marijuana.[188] 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".[188] 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."[188] John Hudak of theBrookings 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."[188]
On January 4, 2018, Sessions rescinded theCole Memorandum, which had prevented federal prosecutors from bringing charges against state legalized marijuana use.[189]
Sessions called the fatalvehicle-ramming attack at the August 2017Unite the Right rally inCharlottesville, Virginia an act ofdomestic terrorism, and began acivil rights investigation into the attack to determine if it will be tried in court as ahate crime.[190] Sessions said "You can be sure we will charge and advance the investigation toward the most serious charges that can be brought, because this is an unequivocally unacceptable and evil attack that cannot be accepted in America."[191]
In a"Dear Colleague" letter issued February 22, 2017, theDepartment of Justice (DOJ) and theDepartment of Education withdrew and rescinded the2016 "Dear Colleague" letter issued jointly by the same organizations.[192] The earlier "Dear Colleague" letter, issued on May 13, 2016, had established thatTitle IX of theEducation Amendments of 1972 allows access to sex-segregated facilities (such as restrooms) corresponding to a student's gender identity.[193] The 2017 letter argued that the 2016 letter lacked "extensive legal analysis", did not "explain how the position is consistent with the express language of Title IX", and it had not undergone "any formal public process".[192] Sessions issued a statement which said "Congress, state legislatures, and local governments are in a position to adopt appropriate policies or laws addressing this issue."[194]
On October 4, 2017, Sessions released aDepartment of Justice (DoJ) memo interpretingTitle VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, stating that Title VII "is ordinarily defined to meanbiologically male or female," but it "does not prohibit discrimination based on gender identityper se."[195][196] The memo was written to withdraw an earlier DoJ memorandum issued byEric Holder on December 15, 2014, which aligned the DoJ with theEqual Employment Opportunity Commission on interpreting Title VII to include gender identity or transgender status as a protected class. At that time, DoJ had already stopped opposing claims of discrimination brought by transgender federal employees.[197] Devin O'Malley, representing the DoJ, stated "the last administration abandoned that fundamental principle [that the Department of Justice cannot expand the law beyond what Congress has provided], which necessitated today's action."Sharon McGowan, a lawyer withLambda Legal who previously served in the Civil Rights division of DoJ, rejected that argument, saying "this memo [issued by Sessions] is not actually a reflection of the law as it is – it's a reflection of what the DOJ wishes the law were" and "[t]he Justice Department is actually getting back in the business of making anti-transgender law in court."[198]
On August 1, 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on topTurkish government officials who were involved in the detention of American pastorAndrew Brunson,[199] who was arrested in October 2016, several months after a failedcoup attempt in Turkey.[200] Turkey's presidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered Sessions's assets in Turkey frozen in retaliation for U.S. sanctions.[201]
On November 7, 2018 (the day after the2018 midterm elections), Sessions resigned as attorney general at the president's request.[202][203][204]
In October 2019, Sessions began exploring a potential candidacy for his old Senate seat in the2020 election.[205] On November 7, 2019, Sessions, the night before the deadline to file in the hyper-competitive Republican race, announced his candidacy. The winner of the Republican primary would challenge incumbent DemocratDoug Jones.[206][207]
With no candidate acquiring more than 50% of the vote in the Republican primary, Sessions advanced to the run-off originally to be held on March 31, but delayed until July 14 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[208] Sessions faced the former head football coach at Auburn University,Tommy Tuberville.[209] During the primary, Alabama's senior senatorRichard Shelby asked Trump to stay out of the race.[210] However, after the first-round primary Trump endorsed Tuberville.[211] Throughout the campaign, Sessions had called himself an ally and supporter of Trump. However, on April 3 the Trump campaign sent a letter to Sessions, objecting and condemning the connections that Sessions has made between him and Trump during the Senate race.[212]
Throughout the campaign Sessions repeatedly defended attacks from the President on Twitter.[213] On May 22, 2020, President Trump tweeted "3 years ago, after Jeff Sessions recused himself, the Fraudulent Mueller Scam began. Alabama, do not trust Jeff Sessions. He let our Country down ..."[214] Sessions responded the next day by tweeting: "Mr. President, Alabama can and does trust me, as do conservatives across the country. Perhaps you've forgotten. They trusted me when I stepped out and put that trust on the line for you."[215] The President responded directly by continuing to deride Sessions, while further encouraging him to drop out of the race entirely.[216]
Sessions lost the Alabama Senate primary to Tommy Tuberville on July 14, 2020.[217] AWashington Post headline read, "Sessions loses runoff in Alabama as Trump helps end career of key supporter he came to despise".[218]
During his tenure, Sessions was considered one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate.[219][220]
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Sessions was an opponent of legal and illegal immigration during his time in Congress.[221][222] He opposed theComprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, theComprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 and thebi-partisanGang of Eight'sBorder Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013. He said that a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants undermines the rule of law, that the inflow of guest workers and immigrants depresses wages and raises unemployment for United States citizens, and that current immigration policy expands an underclass dependent on the welfare state. In a May 2006 floor speech, he said, "Fundamentally, almost no one coming from the Dominican Republic to the United States is coming because they have a skill that would benefit us and that would indicate their likely success in our society."[223][224] He is a supporter ofE-Verify, the federal database that allows businesses to electronically verify the immigration status of potential new hires,[225] and has advocated for expanded construction of aSouthern border fence.[226] In 2013, Sessions said an opt-out provision in immigration legislation before Congress would allowSecretary of Homeland SecurityJanet Napolitano to avoid building a border fence.PolitiFact called Session's statement false, stating that the provision would allow Napolitano to determine where the fence was built, not to opt out of building it entirely.[227]
Sessions's Senate website expressed his view that there is a "clear nexus between immigration and terrorism" and that "Plainly, there is no way to vet these refugees" who would immigrate to the U.S. from Syria in 2016 or who came to the U.S. after September 11, 2001, and were alleged to be involved in terrorism. The news release said that "the absence of derogatory information in our systems about an individual does not mean that admitting that individual carries no risk."[228] Sessions has expressed the view that the children of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries are "susceptible to the toxic radicalization of terrorist organizations" on the basis of theOrlando andSan Bernardino attacks.[229][230] Sessions supported establishing safe zones as an alternative to immigration from war-torn countries.[231][232]
Breitbart News executive chairmanSteve Bannon talked about Sessions as the leader of the movement for slowing down both legal and illegal immigration beforeDonald Trump came to the scene, considering his work to kill immigration reform as akin "to the civil rights movement of 1960". Sessions and his communications directorStephen Miller developed what Miller describes as "nation-state populism" as a response to globalization and immigration.[233]
Immigration is the issue that brought Sessions and Trump together.[234] Trump has credited Sessions as an influential advisor on immigration.[235][236] After Trump was elected and announced Sessions as his attorney general nominee,Cato Institute immigration analystAlex Nowrasteh observed "It's almost as if Sessions wrote Trump's immigration platform."[237]
On June 18, 2018, a group of more than 600United Methodist Church clergy and laity announced that they were bringing church law charges against Sessions. The members of the group accused him of "child abuse, immorality, racial discrimination and dissemination of doctrines contrary to the standards of the doctrine of the United Methodist Church".[238]
According to theAmerican Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a woman and her child fled domestic abuse in El Salvador to seek asylum in the U.S. However the mother was removed from her detention facility and likely put on a plane on August 9, 2018, despite Justice Department promises that she and others would not be deported before the judge could rule on their cases. JudgeEmmet G. Sullivan demanded, "Turn that plane around." He threatened to hold those responsible for the removal in contempt of court, starting with Sessions, if the situation was not rectified. A Department of Homeland Security official stated, "We are complying with the court's requests ... the plaintiffs will not disembark and will be promptly returned to the United States." An ACLU suit challenged a decision by Sessions to make it nearly impossible for victims of domestic violence and gangs to qualify for asylum in the U.S.[239]
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In 2005, Sessions spoke at a rally inWashington, D.C. in favor of theWar in Iraq organized in opposition to ananti-war protest held the day before. Sessions said of the anti-war protesters: "The group who spoke here the other day did not represent the American ideals of freedom, liberty and spreading that around the world. I frankly don't know what they represent, other than to blame America first."[240] The same year, he opposed legislation by SenatorJohn McCain prohibiting the U.S. military from engaging in torture; the amendment passed 90–9.[241]
Sessions opposed theNATO bombing of Yugoslavia,[242] the2011 military intervention in Libya,[243] andarming the Syrian rebels.[244] As Attorney General, he reportedly advised President Trump against increasing the U.S. military presence inAfghanistan.[245]
In the 109th Congress, Sessions introduced legislation to increase the death gratuity benefit for families of service members from $12,420 to $100,000.[246] The bill also increased the level of coverage under theServicemen's Group Life Insurance from $250,000 to $400,000. Sessions's legislation was accepted in the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2005.[247]
In June 2014, Sessions was one of three senators to vote against additional funding for theVA medical system. He opposed the bill due to cost concerns and indicated that Congress should instead focus on "reforms and solutions that improve the quality of service and the effectiveness that is delivered".[248]
In September 2016, in advance of aUN Security Council resolution 2334 condemningIsraeli settlements in the occupiedPalestinian territories, Sessions signed anAIPAC-sponsored letter urging President Barack Obama to veto "one-sided" resolutions against Israel.[249]
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In 1996, Sessions promoted state legislation in Alabama that sought to punish a second drug trafficking conviction, including for dealing marijuana, with a mandatory minimum death sentence.[250] Sessions's views on drugs and crime have since softened.[251]
Sessions supported the reduction (but not the elimination) of the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powdered cocaine, ultimately passed into law with theFair Sentencing Act 2010.[41][252][253]
On October 5, 2005, Sessions was one of nine senators who voted against a Senate amendment toa House bill that prohibitedcruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment of individuals in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government.[254]
In November 2010, Sessions was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee when the committee voted unanimously in favor of theCombating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), and sent the bill to the full Senate for consideration.[255] The proposed law would allow the attorney general to ask a court to issue a restraining order on Internetdomain names that host copyright-infringing material.[255]
In October 2015, Sessions opposed ChairmanChuck Grassley's (R-IA)Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, a bipartisan bill which sought to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for some nonviolent crimes.[256] TheUnited States Senate Committee on the Judiciary approved the bill by a vote of 15–5.[257] According toThe New York Times, Sessions,Tom Cotton, andDavid Perdue "stalled the bill in the Senate and sapped momentum from a simultaneous House effort". SenatorDick Durbin (D-IL), a co-sponsor of the bill, has said Sessions was its top opponent.[258]
Sessions has been a strong supporter ofcivil forfeiture, the government practice of seizing property when it has allegedly been involved in a crime.[259] Sessions opposes "any reform" of civil forfeiture legislation.[260]
From March 2018 until the end of his service as attorney general, Sessions sat on theFederal Commission on School Safety.[261]
Sessions voted for the2001 and2003 Bush tax cuts, and said he would vote to make them permanent if given the chance.[262] He is a signer ofAmericans for Tax Reform'sTaxpayer Protection Pledge.[263]
Sessions was one of 25 senators to vote against theEmergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (the bank bailout), arguing that it "undermines our heritage of law and order, and is an affront to the principle of separation of powers".[264]
Sessions opposed the $837 billionAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, calling it "the largest spending bill in the history of the republic".[265] In late 2011 he also expressed skepticism about the $447 billionjobs bill proposed by President Obama, and disputed the notion that the bill would be paid for without adding to the national debt.[266]
In 2013, Sessions sent a letter toNational Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) enquiring why the foundation funded projects that he deemed frivolous.[267] He also criticized the foundation for distributing books related to Islam to hundreds of U.S. libraries, saying "Using taxpayer dollars to fund education program grant questions that are very indefinite or in an effort to seemingly use Federal funds on behalf of just one religion, does not on its face appear to be the appropriate means to establish confidence in the American people that NEH expenditures are wise."[268]
Sessions voted against theMatthew Shepard Act, which added acts of bias-motivated violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity to federal hate-crimes law,[269] commenting that it "has been said to cheapen the civil rights movement".[270] Sessions "believes that a marriage is union between a man and a woman, and has routinely criticized the U.S. Supreme Court and activist lower courts when they try to judicially redefine marriage".[271] Sessions voted in favor of advancing theFederal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and 2006, a U.S. constitutional amendment which would have permanently restricted federal recognition of marriages to those between a man and a woman.[269] Sessions voted against theDon't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.[272]
Sessions has also said regarding the appointment of a gay Supreme Court justice, "I do not think that a person who acknowledges that they have gay tendencies is disqualified, per se, for the job"[273] but "that would be a big concern that the American people might feel – might feel uneasy about that."[274]
Sessions is against legalizing marijuana for either recreational or medicinal use. "I'm a big fan of theDEA," he said during a hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee.[275] Sessions was "heartbroken" and found "it beyond comprehension" when President Obama said that cannabis is not as dangerous as alcohol.[276] In April 2016, he said that it was important to foster "knowledge that this drug is dangerous, you cannot play with it, it is not funny, it's not something to laugh about ... and to send that message with clarity that good people don't smoke marijuana."[277] In March 2017, prepared remarks for a speech of his called cannabis "only slightly less awful" thanheroin, and he argued that "lives [were] at stake" in legalizing the drug.[278]
Sessions believes "that sanctity of life begins at conception".[271]
Sessions was one of 34 senators to vote against[279] theStem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007,[280] which was vetoed by President Bush and would have provided funding for humanembryonic stem cell research.
In 2006, Sessions coauthored legislation amending theRyan White CARE Act to increase the share ofHIV/AIDS funding going to rural states, including Alabama.[281]
Sessions opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009,[282] and he voted against theHealth Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.[283]
Following SenatorTed Cruz's 21-hour speech opposing the Affordable Care Act in 2013, Sessions joined Cruz and 17 other senators in a failed vote against cloture on a comprehensive government funding bill that would have continued funding healthcare reform.[284]
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Sessions rejects thescientific consensus on climate change.[285] He has voted in favor of legislation that would bar theEnvironmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases.[286] He has voted to open theArctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.[287] Sessions is a proponent of nuclear power.[288]
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sessions defended unsuccessful circuit court nomineeCharles W. Pickering against allegations of racism, saying he was "a leader for racial harmony".[289] Sessions rejected criticisms of successful circuit court nomineeDennis Shedd's record, saying he "should have been commended for the rulings he has made".[17][290] In 2003, Sessions viewed criticisms of Alabama Attorney GeneralWilliam H. Pryor Jr.'s ultimately successful circuit court appointment as being due to his faith, stating that "Are we not saying that good Catholics need not apply?"[291][292]
Sessions was a supporter of the "nuclear option", a tactic considered by then-Senate Majority LeaderBill Frist in the spring of 2005 to change longstanding Senate rules to stop Democraticfilibusters (or, "talking a bill to death") of some ofGeorge W. Bush's nominees to the federal courts. When the "Gang of 14" group of moderate senators reached an agreement to allow filibusters under "extraordinary circumstances", Sessions accepted the agreement but argued that "a return to the tradition of up-or-down votes on all judicial nominees would ... strengthen the Senate."[293]
While serving as the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee in the 110th Congress, Sessions was the senior Republican who questioned JudgeSonia Sotomayor, PresidentBarack Obama's nominee to succeed retiring JusticeDavid Souter. Sessions focused on Sotomayor's views on empathy as a quality for a judge, arguing that "empathy for one party is always prejudice against another."[294] Sessions also questioned the nominee about her views on the use of foreign law in deciding cases,[295] as well as her role in thePuerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF). On July 28, 2009, Sessions joined five Republican colleagues in voting against Sotomayor's nomination in the Judiciary Committee. The committee approved Sotomayor by a vote of 13–6.[296] Sessions also voted against Sotomayor when her nomination came before the full Senate. He was one of 31 senators (all Republicans) to do so, while 68 voted to confirm the nominee.[297]
Sessions also served as the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee during the nomination process forElena Kagan, President Obama's nominee to succeed retired JusticeJohn Paul Stevens. Sessions based his opposition on the nominee's lack of experience, her background as a political operative (Kagan had said that she worked in the Clinton White House not as a lawyer but as a policy adviser[298]), and her record on guns, abortion, and gay rights. Sessions pointed out that Kagan "has a very thin record legally, never tried a case, never argued before a jury, only had her first appearance in the appellate courts a year ago".[299]
Sessions focused the majority of his criticism on Kagan's treatment of the military while she was dean of Harvard Law School. During her tenure, Kagan reinstated the practice of requiringmilitary recruiters to coordinate their activities through a campus veterans organization, rather than the school's Office of Career Services. Kagan argued that she was trying to comply with a law known as theSolomon Amendment, which barred federal funds from any college or university that did not grant military recruiters equal access to campus facilities. Sessions asserted that Kagan's action was a violation of the Solomon Amendment and that it amounted to "demeaning and punishing the military".[300] He also argued that her action showed a willingness to place her politics above the law, and questioned "whether she had the intellectual honesty, the clarity of mind, that you would expect on the Supreme Court".[300][301]
On July 20, 2010, Sessions and five Republican colleagues voted against Kagan's nomination. Despite this, the Judiciary Committee approved the nomination by a 13–6 vote. Sessions also voted against Kagan in the full Senate vote, joining 36 other senators (including one Democrat) in opposition. 63 senators voted to confirm Kagan. Following the vote, Sessions remarked on future nominations and elections, saying that Americans would "not forgive the Senate if we further expose our Constitution to revision and rewrite by judicial fiat to advance what President Obama says is a broader vision of what America should be".[302]
In March 2016, following the death of JusticeAntonin Scalia and President Obama's nomination ofMerrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, Sessions said the Senate "should not confirm a new Supreme Court justice until a new president is elected".[303]
In 1999, Sessions cosponsored the bill to awardRosa Parks theCongressional Gold Medal.[14]
On December 11, 2013, Sessions cosponsored theVictims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2013, a bill that would reauthorize the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 and would authorize funding through 2018 to helpchild abuse victims.[304] Sessions argued that "there is no higher duty than protecting our nation's children, and this bill is an important step to ensure the most vulnerable children receive the care and support they deserve."[304]
Sessions and his wife Mary have three children and as of March 30, 2020, ten grandchildren.[305] The family attends aUnited Methodist church. Specifically, Jeff and Mary Sessions are members of the Ashland Place United Methodist Church inMobile;[306] Jeff Sessions has taughtSunday school there.[307]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tommy Tuberville | 333,890 | 60.7 | |
| Republican | Jeff Sessions | 215,831 | 39.3 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jeff Sessions (incumbent) | 795,606 | 97.25% | |
| Write-ins | Other | 22,484 | 2.75% | |
| Total votes | 818,090 | 100.00% | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jeff Sessions (incumbent) | 199,690 | 92.27 | |
| Republican | Zach McCann | 16,718 | 7.73 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jeff Sessions (incumbent) | 1,305,383 | 63.36% | +4.78% | |
| Democratic | Vivian Davis Figures | 752,391 | 36.52% | −3.31% | |
| Write-ins | 2,417 | 0.12% | +0.02% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jeff Sessions (incumbent) | 792,561 | 58.58% | +6.13% | |
| Democratic | Susan Parker | 538,878 | 39.83% | −5.63% | |
| Libertarian | Jeff Allen | 20,234 | 1.5% | +0.06% | |
| Write-ins | 1,350 | 0.10% | +0.06% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jeff Sessions | 82,373 | 37.81 | |
| Republican | Sid McDonald | 47,320 | 21.72 | |
| Republican | Charles Woods | 24,409 | 11.20 | |
| Republican | Frank McRight | 21,964 | 10.08 | |
| Republican | Walter D. Clark | 18,745 | 8.60 | |
| Republican | Jimmy Blake | 15,385 | 7.06 | |
| Republican | Albert Lipscomb | 7,672 | 3.52 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jeff Sessions | 81,681 | 59.26 | |
| Republican | Sid McDonald | 56,156 | 40.74 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jeff Sessions | 786,436 | 52.45 | |
| Democratic | Roger Bedford | 681,651 | 45.46 | |
| Libertarian | Mark Thornton | 21,550 | 1.44 | |
| Natural Law | Charles R. Hebner | 9,123 | 0.61 | |
| Write-in | 633 | 0.04 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jeff Sessions | 667,010 | 56.87 | |
| Democratic | Jimmy Evans (incumbent) | 505,137 | 43.07 | |
| Write-in | 660 | 0.00 | ||
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III was named after his father, who was named after his grandfather, who was named after the Confederate president Jefferson Davis, his parents once said.
At Wilcox County High School, Sessions graduated in the class of 1965. He had never attended school with a black child.
Trump was joined in the meeting by former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, who have become fixtures at his campaign rallies.
Sessions has also long advocated for curbs to future legal immigration
He's also fought legal immigration, including guest worker programs for immigrants in the country illegally and visa programs for foreign workers in science, math and high-tech ... 'Legal immigration is the primary source of low-wage immigration into the United States,' Sessions argued in a 2015 Washington Post op-ed. '... What we need now is immigration moderation: slowing the pace of new arrivals so that wages can rise, welfare rolls can shrink and the forces of assimilation can knit us all more closely together.'
While the vast majority of Muslims are law-abiding and peaceful, we must face the uncomfortable reality that not only are immigrants from Muslim-majority countries coming to the United States, radicalizing, and attempting to engage in acts of terrorism, such as in Boston and Chattanooga; but also, their first-generation American children are susceptible to the toxic radicalization of terrorist organizations. We saw it in San Bernardino just six months ago, and in Orlando yesterday.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)The ['detailed policy position'/'immigration reform plan'], which was clearly influenced by Sen. Jeff Sessions who Trump consulted to help with immigration policy ...
Senator Sessions and his wife Mary Blackshear Sessions (also a native of Alabama) are members of the Ashland PlaceUnited Methodist Church in Mobile. He serves as a lay leader and Sunday school teacher there.
Sessions is a Sunday school teacher at the Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile and has been a delegate to the annual Alabama Methodist Conference.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
Media related toJeff Sessions at Wikimedia Commons
Works by or aboutJefferson Beauregard Sessions atWikisource
Quotations related toJeff Sessions at Wikiquote| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Kimbrough | United States Attorney for theSouthern District of Alabama 1981–1993 | Succeeded by Don Foster |
| Preceded by Jimmy Evans | Attorney General of Alabama 1995–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Attorney General 2017–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forAttorney General of Alabama 1994 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromAlabama (Class 2) 1996,2002,2008,2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of the Senate Republican Steering Committee 2003–2007 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Alabama 1997–2017 Served alongside:Richard Shelby | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theSenate Judiciary Committee 2009–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theSenate Budget Committee 2011–2015 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Cabinet Member | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Cabinet Member | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Cabinet Member |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
