Chuck Grassley cannot wait for Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III to become attorney general and start weakening voting rights and civil rights enforcement. The Senate Judiciary Committee chair is planning to kick off confirmation hearings before Donald Trump’s inauguration, to ensure that Sessions is in office as quickly as possible.
Grassley also praised Sessions, calling him a “very honorable man” and a “man of integrity.” The committee has already sent the nominee questionnaire to Sessions, and Grassley urged his colleague to return the completed document “very quickly” so he could schedule the confirmation hearing.
In preparation for that confirmation hearing, Senate Democrats had better be preparing 1,000 or so variations on the question “You were too racist for a Republican Congress to make you a federal judge in 1986. Why are you not too racist to enforce civil rights in 2016?” And maybe a couple hundred on “Protections for disabled kids are a major problem in schools, really?” And “Do tell us more about your opposition to the Violence Against Women Act.” And “Criminal justice reform is one of the few bipartisan issues of recent years. Please explain your opposition.” Also, “Please expand on your view that the Confederate flag represents ‘the fabulous accomplishments of our country.’”