Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) was sworn in as the U.S. attorney general Feb. 9 following a 52-47 Senate vote confirming his nomination the night before.
The confirmation vote following an intense debate over his views on voting rights, immigration and criminal justice reform.
Sessions, who began his career as an attorney in private practice, was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama before becoming the state’s attorney general. In 1986, his nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama was derailed in the Senate by charges of insensitivity in racial matters as a prosecutor. He was elected to the Senate in 1996 and was a longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.