Why Jeff Sessions, ‘an Advocate for the Constitution,’ Has Conservatives So Excited

By Fred Lucas

As attorney general, Jeff Sessions could go a long way toward reversing the politicization of the Justice Department that occurred under the Obama administration, Republican senators and conservative activists said Friday, after President-elect Donald Trump announced he is nominating the Alabama Republican senator for the nation’s top law enforcement job.
“Sen. Sessions’ solid understanding of the Constitution and firm commitment to the rule of law is exactly what the Justice Department needs,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “I have worked closely with Sen. Sessions on the Judiciary Committee over these past six years and I have every confidence that he will make a great attorney general for all Americans.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, commended the Sessions nomination and excoriated the Justice Department under the controversial leadership of Attorneys General Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch.
“A principled and good man, he will restore honor to a department that, under President [Barack] Obama, perpetually pushed a political agenda while neglecting to enforce the law,” Cornyn said in a statement.
“For nearly eight years the Justice Department has twisted the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress to further the president’s liberal agenda, eroding our liberty in the process,” said Cornyn, also a Judiciary member. “It has put politics ahead of national security, and demonized those who protect us. It’s time to end the politicization of the Justice Department and start defending the rule of law, and I’m confident that as our top law enforcement official Senator Sessions will do that.”
During the Obama administration, Holder fended off an investigation into the Operation Fast and Furious gunwalking program, and was found in contempt of Congress for refusing to provide thousands of documents to congressional investigators.
Holder and Lynch also launched controversial investigations into police departments across the country. More recently, Republicans questioned potential Justice Department interference into the investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
Bumpy Confirmation Ahead?
In the 1980s, Sessions was a U.S. attorney and was nominated but not confirmed to a federal judgeship. So, this will be the third time Sessions will face a Senate confirmation.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is “confident he would be reported favorably out of the committee” because of his legal background.
“Sen. Sessions is a respected member and former ranking member of the Judiciary Committee who has worked across the aisle on major legislation,” Grassley said. “He knows the Justice Department as a former U.S. attorney, which would serve him very well in this position.”