Campaign Action
The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Tuesday on Jeff Session's nomination. Every Democratic Senator on that panel must vote against this nomination. Here's why:
To longtime Jeff Sessions observers, the chaos that unfolded in American airports on Saturday morning wasn’t a surprise. At all.
Rather, the refugee ban was the predictable culmination of years of advocacy from two of President Donald Trump’s most trusted advisors: White House Senior Advisor Stephen Miller and attorney general designate Jeff Sessions. For years, Sessions and Miller—who was the Alabama senator’s communications director before leaving to join the Trump campaign—pushed research and talking points designed to make Americans afraid of refugees.
Press releases, email forwards, speeches on the Senate floor—Miller and Sessions used it all to make the case against Obama’s refugee program was a huge terror threat. The executive order Trump signed late in the day on Friday is just the logical conclusion of their work.
Last year, the Senate voted on a non-binding resolution " affirming that the United States does not use religious tests for immigrants seeking admission into the country." Guess who was one of the four voting against this resolution? You got it—Sessions. Who also cast a proxy vote for Sen. Ted Cruz while he was at it.
This shouldn't just be a clear "no" vote for Democrats. And, by the way, Democrats should absolutely oppose him in committee and on the floor, his unconvincing disavowal of the ban notwithstanding. Republicans Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham, and Ben Sasse—who have all criticized the Muslim ban now have the opportunity to put their votes behind their rhetoric and stop this nomination.
