Finally: Jeff Sessions Confirmed As Attorney General (Liberal Tears Flow Again)
By Matt Vespa
Sen. Jeff Sessions’ (R-AL) attorney general nomination
has been fraught with partisan politics and gimmicks. Senate Democrats pulled
every procedural maneuver in the book to delay a committee vote on his
nomination. On February 1, Sessions was finally approved by an 11-9 party line
vote to move his nomination to the Senate for a vote. Yesterday, a cloture
motion on his nomination passed in a 52-47 vote.
Now, after weeks in limbo, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions
III has been confirmed the 84th Attorney General of the United States in a
52-47 vote. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) broke with Democrats to vote for Sessions.
Sessions' nomination was to be voted on first after
getting the nod by the Senate Judiciary Committee, but Sens. Lisa Murkowski and
Susan Collins (R-ME) decided to break ranks from the GOP on Betsy DeVos’
nomination to be education secretary. Her nomination also passed the Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on a 12-11 party line vote.
That forced her nomination to be pushed up on the docket.
The Senate GOP needed Sessions’ vote, as the vote on
DeVos was 50-50. Vice President Mike Pence who cast the deciding vote, a first
in U.S. history, eventually broke the tie.
Sessions and DeVos were seen as some of President Donald
Trump’s most controversial nominees. A larger fight would have occurred if it
weren’t for former Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) nuking the filibuster rules for
non-Supreme Court presidential nominees, which allowed cloture to be invoked
and nominees confirmed by a simple majority. No doubt that both of these
nominees would have been filibustered by Senate Democrats. Given how the :Eft
reacted to DeVos' confirmation, expect the liberal tears to flow again with
Sessions.
So, I guess we should say thank you, Harry Reid.
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[UPDATE: The Senate votes to confirm Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga. as
Health and Human Services Secretary in a 52-47 vote. Price will likely be
tasked to lead the GOP effort to repeal and replace Obamacare.]
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Trump Signs a Slew of New Executive Orders: Taking on
Cartels, Crime and Protecting Law Enforcement
By Katie Pavlich
Shortly before swearing in Attorney General Jeff Sessions
at the White House Thursday, President Donald Trump announced the signing of
three executive orders related to crime.
"I'm signing three executive actions today designed
to restore safety in America," Trump said, adding he was fulfilling
another campaign promise. "I am directing DOJ and DHS to take all
necessary action to break the backs of criminal cartels that have spread across
our nation."
Additionally, Trump announced a directive for DOJ to
convene a task force against violent crime and to come up with a plan to combat
violence against law enforcement officers.
Trump said the swearing in of Sessions represents a new
era in fighting crime and told criminals their "day is over."
"A new era of justice begins and it begins right
now," Trump said.
After being sworn in, Sessions made brief remarks about
crime and illegal immigration.
"We have a crime problem. I wish the rose that we're
seeing in crime in America today was some sort of aberration or blip,"
Sessions said. "We need to end that lawlessness that threatens the
American people."
