Sen.-elect Catherine Cortez Masto is off to a great start in filling the shoes of outgoing Sen. Harry Reid. Here's her statement on Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III possibly becoming U.S. attorney general.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren echoed that sentiment:
Instead of embracing the bigotry that fueled his campaign rallies, I urge President-election Trump to reverse his apparent decision to nominate Senator Sessions to be Attorney General of the United States. If he refuses, then it will fall to the Senate to exercise fundamental moral leadership for our nation and all of its people. Thirty years ago, a different Republican Senate rejected Senator Sessions' nomination to a federal judgeship. In doing so, that Senate affirmed that there can be no compromise with racism; no negotiation with hate. Today, a new Republican Senate must decide whether self-interest and political cowardice will prevent them from once again doing what is right.
House members are weighing in as well, rallying their Senate colleagues against the nomination. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL) rallied Democrats:
If you have nostalgia for the days when blacks kept quiet, gays were in the closet, immigrants were invisible and women stayed in the kitchen, Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions is your man. […] He ran for the Senate because he was deemed by the Senate Judiciary Committee as too racist to serve as a federal judge. He is the kind of person who will set back law enforcement, civil rights, the courts, and increase America's mass incarceration industry and erase 50 years of progress.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) says of the pick that Trump is proving he will not "lead responsible." "By appointing Senator Sessions and Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to key positions on his administration’s national security team, he has abdicated that duty. His chosen advisors have expressed views attacking women, African Americans, Jews, Muslims, Hispanics and Latinos, immigrants and new Americans, and numerous other groups. I urge him to reconsider this divisive course and withdraw these appointments.”
The Congressional Black Caucus calls the nomination "alarming," and says that his "civil rights record is appalling and should disqualify him from Senate confirmation." They end with this:
The Congressional Black Caucus stands ready to oppose Senator Session's confirmation as we adamantly believe his appointment will set us back in the advancement of civil rights and race relations across the country.
Leader Nancy Pelosi joins them, saying "Senator Sessions’ record of racially charged comments and actions was considered disqualifying for a district judgeship by the standards of 1986, and now in 2016 President-elect Trump wants to make him the chief law enforcement officer in America."
Then there's Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who will be the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee which will consider this nomination. She reminds Sessions that his duties "include enforcing civil rights and voting protections, prosecuting hate crimes and firearm violations, protecting women’s health clinics and upholding the constitutional right to marriage equality" and that his "primary loyalty must be to the Constitution and the rule of law—and sometimes that means telling the president no," and concludes while "Senator Sessions and I differ on a great many issues, I am committed to a full and fair process."
Considering the vehemence of her colleagues in opposition to this nomination, first and foremost in this should be that idea what applies to the AG—their "primary loyalty must be to the Constitution and the rule of law—and sometimes that means telling the president no,"—applies to senators, as well. That goes for Sen. Chuck Schumer as well.
