68 Facts About US Attorney General Jeff Sessions

1. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was only the second nominee rejected by the committee in 48 years.

2. In 2007, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions got a bill passed essentially banning for 10 years federal contractors who hire illegal immigrants.

3. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has opposed nearly every immigration bill that has come before the Senate the past two decades that has included a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally.

4. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions is popular back home: Aside from his first election in 1996, Sessions has never won with less than 59 percent of the vote.

5. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions is a Sunday school teacher at the Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile, where he and his wife are members.

6. On December 11, 2013, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions cosponsored the Victims 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 help child abuse victims.

7. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions voted against Kagan in the full Senate vote, joining 36 other senators in opposition.

8. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions focused the majority of his criticism on Kagan's treatment of the military while she was dean of Harvard Law School.

9. US Attorney General Jeff 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".

10. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was one of 31 senators to do so, while 68 voted to confirm the nominee.

11. On July 28, 2009, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions joined five Republican colleagues in voting against Sotomayor's nomination in the Judiciary Committee.

12. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions rejected criticisms of successful circuit court nominee Dennis Shedd's record, saying he "should have been commended for the rulings he has made".

13. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has voted in favor of legislation that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases.

14. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions is skeptical of the scientific consensus on climate change.

15. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

16. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was one of 34 Senators to vote against the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, which was vetoed by President Bush and would have provided funding for human embryonic stem cell research.

17. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was "heartbroken" and found "it beyond comprehension" when President Obama said that cannabis is not as dangerous as alcohol.

18. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions is against legalizing marijuana for either recreational or medicinal use.

19. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions voted in favor of advancing the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and 2006, a US constitutional amendment which would have permanently restricted federal recognition of marriages to those between a man and a woman.

20. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions criticized the foundation for distributing books related to Islam to hundreds of US 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.

21. In 2013, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent a letter to National Endowment for the Humanities enquiring why the foundation funded projects that he deemed frivolous.

22. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions opposed the $837 billion stimulus bill, calling it "the largest spending bill in the history of the republic".

23. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was one of 25 senators to vote against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, arguing that it "undermines our heritage of law and order, and is an affront to the principle of separation of powers".

24. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was one of 29 senators who voted for an amendment to the 2008 budget resolution, offered by Republican Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, that would have placed a one-year moratorium on the practice of earmarking.

25. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions voted for the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, and said he would vote to make them permanent if given the chance.

26. In November 2010, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee when the committee voted unanimously in favor of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, and sent the bill to the full Senate for consideration.

27. On October 5, 2005, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was one of nine Senators who voted against a Senate amendment to a House bill that prohibited cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment of individuals in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government.

28. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions supported the reduction of the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powdered cocaine, ultimately passed into law with the Fair Sentencing Act 2010.

29. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions 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".

30. In June 2014, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was one of three senators to vote against additional funding for the VA medical system.

31. US Attorney General Jeff 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.

32. In 2005, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke at a rally in Washington, DC in favor of the War in Iraq organized in opposition to an anti-war protest held the day before.

33. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions supported establishing safe zones as an alternative to immigration from war-torn countries.

34. US Attorney General Jeff 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 the Orlando and San Bernardino Attacks.

35. In 2013, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that an opt-out provision in immigration legislation before Congress would allow Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to avoid building a border fence.

36. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions 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.

37. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was an opponent of legal and illegal immigration during his time in Congress.

38. US Attorney General Jeff 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.

39. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the fatal vehicle-ramming attack at the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia an act of domestic terrorism, and began a civil rights investigation into the attack to determine if it will be tried in court as a hate crime.

40. On January 4, 2018, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole Memorandum, which had prevented federal prosecutors from bringing charges against state legalized marijuana use.

41. On March 20, 2018, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions signed a memo instructing federal prosecutors to seek capital punishment on major drug dealers.

42. On December 22, 2017, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded guidelines intended to warn local courts against imposing excessive fines and fees on poor defendants.

43. On July 19, 2017, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions signed an order reviving federally adopted civil asset forfeiture, which allows local law enforcement to bypass state limitations on seizing the property of those suspected but not charged of crimes.

44. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions told associates he did not intend to resign, but on November 7, 2018, he submitted a letter of resignation to Chief of Staff John Kelly at President Trump's request.

45. In May 2017, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions offered to resign after receiving criticism from Trump, but Trump did not accept the resignation.

46. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said during a televised interview that the recusal was not an admission of any wrongdoing.

47. On March 2, 2017, US Attorney General Jeff 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.

48. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions rejected reports he had met with Russian Ambassador Kislyak during Trump's April 2016 speech at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, testifying that he did not remember any "brief interaction" he may have had with the ambassador.

49. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions released a statement on March 1, 2017, saying "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign.

50. On March 1, 2017, reports surfaced that US Attorney General Jeff Sessions had contact with Russian government officials during the 2016 US presidential election, even though during his confirmation hearings he denied he had any discussions with representatives of the Russian government.

51. US Attorney General Jeff 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.

52. On December 21, 2017, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded 200 pages of guidance documents.

53. In March 2017, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions had recused himself from investigations into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.

54. On February 8, 2017, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was confirmed as Attorney General by a vote of 52 to 47.

55. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was introduced by Senator Susan Collins from Maine who said, "US Attorney General Jeff Sessions's a decent individual with a strong commitment to the rule of law.

56. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was on the short list to become Trump's running mate, a position that ultimately went to Mike Pence.

57. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was an early supporter of the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, and was a major policy adviser to the Trump campaign, especially in regard to immigration and national security.

58. In 2014, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was uncontested in the Republican primary and was only opposed in the general election by write-in Democratic candidate Victor Sanchez Williams.

59. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions received 63 percent of the vote to Figures's 37 percent.

60. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has always defended his civil rights record, saying that "when I was [a US Attorney], I signed 10 pleadings attacking segregation or the remnants of segregation, where we as part of the Department of Justice, we sought desegregation remedies".

61. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied this, saying that he recused himself from the case.

62. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified that "Mr Sessions admonished me to 'be careful what you say to white folks'.

63. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he did not recall making that remark and he did not believe it.

64. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions served in the Army Reserve in the 1970s, with the rank of captain.

65. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was active in the Young Republicans and was student body president.

66. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions signed an order adopting civil asset forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize the property of those suspected but not charged with crimes.

67. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was an early supporter of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, and was nominated by Trump for the post of US Attorney General.

68. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was nominated in 1986 to be a judge of the US District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, but was not confirmed.