Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions will continue his confirmation hearing before his peers on the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning.
A group of black lawmakers is expected to speak out against Sessions as he attempts to become the next U.S. Attorney General. That group includes New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, taking the rare step of testifying against a current Senate colleague.
Booker’s unusual testimony points to the unease Democrats have with Sessions, who was rejected for a federal judgeship in the mid-1980s amid accusations of racial impropriety. In his confirmation yesterday, Sessions called those accusations “damnably false”.
Sessions does have lots of support from the Republican majority in the Senate and is expected to easily win confirmation. But he does face a challenge persuading skeptics that he’ll be committed to civil rights, voting rights and the rights of immigrants as Attorney General.