Senate Judiciary Committee debates whether Sessions will be an independent attorney general
Sen. Jeff Sessions.
President Donald Trump’s firing of acting attorney general Sally Yates led to questions on Tuesday about Sen. Jeff Sessions’ ability to be independent if he becomes attorney general.
Questions were raised as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepared to vote on Sessions’ nomination, the Washington Post, the New York Times and CNN report.
Yates was fired after she refused to defend Trump’s executive order temporarily banning refugees and immigrants from seven mostly Muslim countries from entering the United States.
During the Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., read aloud from Yates’ memo explaining why she would not defend the order.
“Members, that statement took guts,” Feinstein said. “That statement said what an independent attorney general should do. That statement took a steel spine to stand up and say no. It took the courage of Elliot Richardson and William Ruckelshaus, who stood up to President Nixon. That is what an attorney general must be willing and able to do. I have no confidence that Senator Sessions will do that.”
But Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, defended Sessions. The nominee will “follow the law, regardless of whether he would have supported it as a matter of policy as a senator,” Grassley said.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.