Washington
“There’s no way I can support him,” Leahy said in an interview Sunday. “I try to give every president’s nominee the benefit of the doubt. I’ve had nominees of Republican and Democrat presidents where I’ve had areas of disagreement — and I don’t expect them to be in lockstep with me on everything. But on certain core constitutional principles, then I really do care.”
“After giving Sessions the benefit of the doubt,” Leahy added, “there’s too much doubt.”
Leahy is the sole remaining senator who voted against Sessions’ 1986 nomination for a federal judgeship. At the time, Sessions was plagued by accusations of racism, and the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee swiftly rejected the young Alabama attorney.
More than 30 years later, the Vermont senator said he pored over hundreds of pages of the nominee’s past statements and policies looking to answer a fundamental question: “Has he changed?”
After two days of heated confirmation hearings and dozens of supplemental questions, Leahy charged that Sessions had not, in fact, demonstrated a fundamental shift in ideology since his initial rejection by the Senate committee three decades ago.
Sessions’ nomination is still awaiting a recommendation from the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Leahy is the most senior member.
While Leahy said he was concerned about “the totality” of Sessions’ career, he said he was particularly troubled by Sessions’ reluctance to pursue potential Justice Department investigations of President Donald Trump on a range of matters, from his myriad business entanglements across the globe to allegations of fraud at Trump University.
“He’s supposed to be the chief law enforcement officer, but he talks like he’s going to be Trump’s personal attorney,” Leahy said. “He’s supposed to be the attorney for all of us.”
Some Republican picks — such as George H.W. Bush nominee William Barr — won confirmation by the full Senate on a bipartisan basis by voice vote. But others saw more Democratic opposition, including John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales, former Republican President George W. Bush’s two attorneys general.Other northern New England senators also announced opposition to Trump’s cabinet nominations.
Other northern New England senators also announced opposition to Trump’s cabinet nominations. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., released a statement on Monday saying she intends to oppose Rex Tillerson’s nomination for Secretary of State.
Fellow Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, N.H., also voted against Tillerson’s nomination in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Monday afternoon, and the two have also announced opposition to Betsy DeVos for education secretary.
“I remain very concerned about Rex Tillerson’s strong connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin and record of undermining efforts to combat climate change …” Hassan said in a statement.
In his more than 40 years in the Senate, Leahy has consistently supported Democratic nominees for attorney general. But only twice has he backed a Republican nominee for the post in a Senate roll call vote, both during President Ronald Reagan’s tenure.
Leahy voted against both of Bush’s nominees. He was especially fiery in Judiciary hearings for Gonzales, invoking a 2002 Department of Justice memo in which Gonzales suggested to Bush that the fight against terrorism “renders obsolete” various torture restrictions set forth in the Geneva Conventions.
While Leahy declined to say whether he considers Sessions a more dangerous nominee than past Republican picks, he expressed alarm over several of Sessions’ past proposals and pronouncements, on topics ranging from civil rights to surveillance powers.
The attorney general has enormous power over these issues and more, Leahy said, adding that the prospect of four years of Republican control of law enforcement policy was “sobering.”