Jeff Sessions
Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American conservative politician. He was the 84th United States Attorney General serving from February 9, 2017 to November 7, 2018.
Jeff Sessions | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 84th United States Attorney General | |
| In office February 9, 2017 – November 7, 2018 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Rod J. Rosenstein |
| Preceded by | Loretta Lynch |
| Succeeded by | William P. Barr |
| United States Senator from Alabama | |
| In office January 3, 1997 – February 8, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Howell Heflin |
| Succeeded by | Luther Strange |
| 44th Attorney General of Alabama | |
| In office January 16, 1995 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Governor | Fob James |
| Preceded by | Jimmy Evans |
| Succeeded by | Bill Pryor |
| United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama | |
| In office 1981–1993 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | William Kimbrough, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Don Foster |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III December 24, 1946 Selma, Alabama, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Blackshear |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Huntingdon College (BA) University of Alabama (JD) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Senate website |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1973–1977 |
| Rank |  Captain |
| Unit | 1184th United States Army Transportation Terminal Unit United States Army Reserve |
Before being Attorney General, he was the junior United States Senator from Alabama. He is a member of the Republican Party. At the time of his senate career, he ranked 15th in seniority in the United States Senate. He was the most senior junior Senator upon the retirement of Barbara Boxer in January 2017 to February 2017.
In November 2019, Sessions announced that he would run for his old Senate seat in 2020. He lost the Republican nomination to Tommy Tuberville.
Early life
Sessions was born in Selma, Alabama on December 24, 1946.[1] He was the son of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Jr., and the former Abbie Powe.[2] He was raised in Camden, Alabama. Sessions earned B.A. Degree from Huntingdon College and a J.D. Degree from the University of Alabama.
Early career
From 1981 to 1993, he was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. Sessions was elected Attorney General of Alabama in 1994.
United States senator (1997–2017)
Sessions was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and re-elected in 2002, 2008, and 2014. Sessions was considered one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate.
As a senator, he is known for being against illegal immigration and for reducing legal immigration. He supported the major legislative efforts of the George W. Bush administration, including the 2001 and 2003 tax cut packages, the Iraq War, and a proposed national amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
He opposed the establishment of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the 2009 stimulus bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act. As the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he opposed all three of President Barack Obama's nominees for the Supreme Court.
An early supporter of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Sessions was considered as a possible Vice Presidential nominee, but Trump finally chose Indiana governor Mike Pence.
Sessions resigned from the senate to become the United States Attorney General on February 8, 2017.[3]
United States Attorney General (2017–2018)
On November 18, 2016, it was announced that President-elect Donald Trump planned to nominate Sessions for United States Attorney General.
On January 10, 2017, the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on his nomination began.[4] The committee approved his nomination February 1 on a straight party-line vote, 11 to 9.[5] The senate narrowly confirmed his nomination on February 8, 2017. He was sworn-in by Vice President Mike Pence on February 9. On May 7, 2018 he announced a new morally questionable policy that separated children from their mothers at the border.
As U.S. Attorney General, Sessions overturned a memo delivered by Eric Holder to reduce mass incarceration by avoiding mandatory sentencing,[6] and ordered federal prosecutors to begin seeking the maximum criminal charges possible. Sessions allowed law enforcement to seize the property of those suspected but not charged with crimes.[7][8] A critic of illegal immigration, Sessions adopted a hard-line on so-called sanctuary cities and told reporters that cities that did not follow federal immigration policy would lose federal funding, but failed.[9] As Attorney General, Sessions supported allowing the Department of Justice to prosecute providers of medical marijuana.[10]
On November 7, 2018, President Trump fired Sessions as Attorney General in a tweet.[11]
2020 United States Senate race
In October 2019, Sessions began exploring a potential candidacy for his old Senate seat in the 2020 election.[12] He announced his Senate run on November 7, 2019.[13]
Sessions lost the Alabama Senate Primary to Tommy Tuberville on July 14, 2020.[14] A Washington Post headline read, "Sessions loses runoff in Alabama as Trump helps end career of key supporter he came to despise."[15]
Personal life
Sessions and his wife Mary have three children and six grandchildren.[16] The family is United Methodist. He teaches at Sunday School to children in Mobile, Alabama.[17]
Jeff Sessions Media
Senators Sessions and Richard Shelby with FEMA Director James Lee Witt, 1998
Senators Sessions and Richard Shelby meet with President George W. Bush, 2004
Official photo of Sessions as Senator, 2004
Senators Sessions and Saxby Chambliss talk to sailors, NAS Sigonella, Italy, 2004
Sessions speaking at a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on August 31, 2016
Sessions arriving at Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2017
Sessions being sworn in at his confirmation hearing on January 10, 2017
Sessions is sworn in as Attorney General by Vice President Mike Pence.
"Attorney General Sessions Statement on Recusal", U.S. Department of Justice (March 2, 2017)
Attorney General Sessions Statement on Recusal
References
- ↑ "SESSIONS, Jefferson Beauregard III (Jeff) – Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Archived from the original on November 26, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
- ↑ Battle, Robert. "Ancestry of Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III". Rootsweb. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
- ↑ Barrett, Ted; LoBianco, Tom (February 6, 2017). "DeVos, Sessions expected to be confirmed in tight votes". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/06/politics/devos-session-senate-vote-tuesday/. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ↑ Rafferty, Andrew (January 10, 2017). "Jeff Sessions, Trump's Pick for Attorney General, Testifies at Senate Confirmation Hearing". NBC News. http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/sessions-nomination-battle-kicks-capitol-hill-n705136. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
- ↑ Kim, Seung Min (February 1, 2017). "Sessions clears committee on party-line 11-9 vote". Politico. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/senate-judiciary-jeff-sessions-234488. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
- ↑ Ruiz, Rebecca R. (May 10, 2017). "Sessions to Toughen Rules on Prosecuting Drug Crimes". The New York Times: A1. Archived from the original on May 13, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170513022205/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/jeff-sessions-sentencing-criminal-justice.html. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
- ↑ Ruiz, Rebecca R. (July 20, 2017). "Justice Dept. Revives Criticized Policy Allowing Assets to Be Seized". The New York Times: A18. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170720002742/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/politics/justice-department-civil-asset-forfeiture.html. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
- ↑ "Press Release Number 17-795: Attorney General Sessions Issues Policy and Guidelines on Federal Adoptions of Assets Seized by State or Local Law Enforcement" (in en). Press release. July 19, 2017. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170720011810/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-sessions-issues-policy-and-guidelines-federal-adoptions-assets-seized-state. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
- ↑ Sessions takes aim at 'dangerous' sanctuary cities, warns on funding. Fox News. March 27, 2017. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170408171425/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/27/sessions-takes-aim-at-dangerous-sanctuary-cities-warns-on-funding.html.
- ↑ Christopher Ingraham (June 13, 2017). "Jeff Sessions personally asked Congress to let him prosecute medical-marijuana providers". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 4, 2017..
- ↑ Donald J. Trump on Twitter
- ↑ "AP sources: Jeff Sessions exploring possible Ala. Senate run". News Channel. October 29, 2019.
- ↑ "Former AG Jeff Sessions announces comeback bid for Alabama Senate seat". ABC News.
- ↑ Chandler, Kim (July 14, 2020). "Tuberville beats Sessions, wins Alabama Senate GOP primary". AP News. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ↑ Sessions loses runoff in Alabama as Trump helps end career of key supporter he came to despise. 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sessions-tuberville-alabama-senate/2020/07/14/5643926e-c5ef-11ea-8ffe-372be8d82298_story.html.
- ↑ De La Cuetara, Ines (July 18, 2016). "Jeff Sessions: Everything You Need to Know". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jeff-sessions/story?id=40279756.
- ↑ Lucas, Fred (November 21, 2016). "Who Is the New Attorney General Pick, Jeff Sessions?". Newsweek. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
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.
Other websites
- Senator Jeff Sessions Archived 2009-07-29 at the Wayback Machine official U.S. Senate site
- Jeff Sessions for Senate Archived 2020-12-10 at the Wayback Machine
- Jeff Sessions at the Open Directory Project
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Collected news and commentary Archived 2010-06-20 at the Wayback Machine from Politico