Marijuana advocacy group moves to block Jeff Sessions’ AG Nomination
Despite the fact marijuana remains illegal on the federal level, following Election Day, 65 million Americans now live in states that authorize adult recreational use. Which is precisely why the marijuana industry is uneasy over the notion of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions being confirmed as the United States’ next Attorney General — as leader of the Justice Department, the outspoken marijuana-opponent would have the power to force marijuana-friendly states into compliance with federal law. “We need grown-ups in charge in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized, it ought not to be minimized, that it’s in fact a very real danger,” Sessions said at a Senate hearing in April. As Sessions confirmation hearings are poised to begin next week, the DCMJ, the group that spearheaded the successful campaign to legalize marijuana in the District of Colombia, on Tuesday kicked off an effort to urge the Senate to stop Sessions from becoming the next AG in order to protect the burgeoning industry. “We have come to assume Senator Sessions will overturn the will of more than 70% of the voters in the District of Columbia that voted for full legalization if made Attorney General,” said DCMJ co-founders Adam Eidinger and Nikolas Schiller in a letter to the Senate. “He will be empowered to ignore the 60% of Americans, who support legal cannabis or the more than 80% of U.S. citizens, who support the legalizing cannabis for medical purposes.” The letter continued, “The facts are that a legal cannabis industry: provides tens of thousands of jobs to hardworking, law-abiding citizens; stops unjust laws that disproportionately impact minorities; furnishes access to life-changing treatments for critically ill patients; empowers responsible small business owners over criminal dealers and cartels; generates valuable economic development, jobs, and provides much needed revenues for strapped state budgets.” The DCMJ and other drug reform advocates can’t be certain of Sessions’ agenda as AG until the confirmation hearing begins Tuesday. Nevertheless they’re prepared to fight if necessary. “We will use all practical means to fight the threat Sessions poses to overturn the will of the voters, ignore science and medical professionals and put black market marijuana back in the hands of international organized crime rings,” Eidinger said.
Confirmation hearings for Jeff Sessions scheduled for Jan. 10, 11
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump‘s proposed Cabinet of top advisers seems headed toward a head-on battle with Senate Democrats, with Dems hoping to give the nominees the a Merrick Garland-esque run-around before any chance of confirmation. Nevertheless, following a long-held tradition in the treatment of incoming presidents, Trump’s fellow Republicans have made Senate confirmation of his Cabinet a top priority. They have already begun to schedule confirmation hearings, in hopes of having the nominees officially confirmed within hours of the president-elect’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Scheduled first for a confirmation hearing is Alabama’s own U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, who was tapped Nov. 18 to be Trump’s Attorney General. The Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed on Friday that they have scheduled Sessions’ confirmation hearings for Jan. 10 and 11. “Since President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s nomination of Herbert Brownell to be the 62nd Attorney General in 1953, hearings on a newly-elected president’s Attorney General nominee have been held prior to inauguration,” the Judiciary Committee posted Friday on its official website. “The only exception occurred when President George H.W. Bush retained Dick Thornburgh as Attorney General after he had been confirmed only five months prior under President Ronald Reagan.” According to the Committee, Sessions’s confirmation process will follow the “same timeline as the nomination of Attorney General Eric Holder” under President Barack Obama. More January confirmation hearings are planned to be scheduled in the coming days, ahead of Trump’s inauguration.
Top Democrat, Patty Murray, signals likely opposition to Jeff Sessions nomination
Top Senate candidates are signally they will oppose Sen. Jeff Sessions‘ attorney general nomination. The Hill reported Monday that Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, has signaled she will oppose Session’s nomination. According to the report, Murray, the No. 3 Senate Democrat in 2017, said the Senate rejected Sessions’ nomination 30 years ago because of civil rights concerns, and many of those same concerns still exist. In a Facebook post, Murray said she has seen Sessions vote against the Violence Against Women Act, the Voting Rights Act and hate crime legislation. “The person overseeing the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice should be absolutely committed to protecting civil rights and making sure that fighting racism, discrimination, and hate crimes remains a core mission of the Department,” she said in the Facebook post. “Anything less than a full commitment to actively and aggressively working to promote the civil rights of everyone in our country—regardless of race, religion, disability, gender, or sexual orientation—is unacceptable to me for someone in this position,” she continued. “A Republican Senate rejected Senator Sessions thirty years ago because of concerns they had about his record on civil rights and racial issues—and many of those same concerns linger three decades later.” The Hill reported Sessions supported the Voting Rights Act in 2006 and Eric Holder’s nomination as the first African-American attorney general. He is well-liked among his Senate colleagues, The Hill reported Republicans have signaled they hope to swiftly move his nomination through the Senate. Democrats have pledged to give Sessions a grilling, but face an uphill battle. He only needs a simple majority to secure the position, and Republicans are expected to have 52 seats in the Senate next year. The Hill reported Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, has said he will vote for him.
Hardliner Jeff Sessions could face repeat of 1986 Senate confirmation battle
Thirty years ago, federal judge nominee Jeff Sessions ran afoul of a Senate confirmation hearing after accusations emerged he called a black attorney “boy” and referred to the NAACP as “un-American.” Now a senior member of that same Senate panel, the Alabama Republican, one of the chamber’s strongest conservatives, could once again face a confirmation battle as one of Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters. POLITICO reports Sessions, as a reward for backing Trump, is under consideration for either U.S. Attorney General or Secretary of Defense. However, those same accusations of racial insensitivity and hardline attitudes on immigration could make a possible Cabinet position far from assured. Sessions’ nomination could add fodder to Trump critics, particularly after the announcement of Steve Bannon, who leads the alt-right Breitbart News, as a top White House adviser. “Jeff Sessions, just because he’s a senator, does not mean he doesn’t have any racist intent,” Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego told POLITICO, adding that Sessions aligns with Trump and is known for “anti-Latino and anti-minority viewpoints.” Sessions could still get a pass from senators — even those who have been critics in the past — including South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has disagreed with Sessions on immigration. “He was the early, only supporter for Donald Trump … in the Senate,” Graham told reporters this week. “I believe that Jeff Sessions has earned the right to serve President Trump at the highest levels … I think he’s a good, competent, capable man.” Sessions has long denied accusations of bigotry, telling the judicial confirmation hearing in 1986: “I am not the Jeff Sessions my detractors have tried to create. I am not a racist. I am not insensitive to blacks. I have supported civil rights activities in my state. I have done my job with integrity, equality, and fairness for all.” And his stance on immigration has made him popular with several senior Republicans. “Just because the leadership does it or likes it doesn’t mean it’s right,” said California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, another early Trump congressional backer. “He’s been right on immigration. … It just so happens we now have a president-elect that sees directly eye to eye with what Jeff Sessions always has believed is right.” Originally, Sessions was in rare company among Senate Republicans, supporting Trump over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the early months of the campaign. Now that loyalty looks like it will be paying off, when Trump named Sessions vice-chair of the transition executive committee. Over his Senate career, Sessions frequently clashed with his own party on issues such as the federal defense budget and immigration, leading the attacks on the bipartisan “Gang of Eight,” which in 2013 attempted to produce a compromise immigration reform bill. It could be just the thing that feeds backlash should he face another Senate confirmation hearing.
