Jeff Sessions Confirmed as US Attorney General

The Senate confirmed Jeff Sessions as US Attorney General in a vote Wednesday night, Mediaite reports. Democrats put up what fight they could with late-night sessions on Monday and Tuesday—CNN reports they battled Sessions' confirmation for 30 hours on the Senate floor—but in the end it wasn't enough to block his confirmation. The vote, largely split along party lines, was 52-47, according to the AP. Every Republican senator voted for Sessions; Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the only Democrat to vote for him.

Democrats attacked Sessions, one of President Trump's earliest backers, on his record on civil rights and immigration, arguing he wouldn't work to protect the voting rights of minorities, the rights of LGBT Americans, or the right of women to an abortion. Sessions has also been accused of being a racist, including in a 1986 letter by Coretta Scott King read by multiple Democrats during the lead-up to the vote. Shortly before Sessions was confirmed, Mitch McConnell called the senator from Alabama a "likable guy" and a "true Southern gentleman." A replacement for Sessions in the Senate is expected to be named as early as Thursday. (More Jeff Sessions stories.)