The Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] advanced the nomination of Jeff Sessions [materials] for US attorney general on Wednesday. All 11 Republicans on the committee backed Sessions’ nomination, while all nine Democrats opposed him. It is estimated the full Senate could vote on the nomination as early as next week.

Sessions was nominated by President Donald Trump last November [JURIST report], and his progression through the Senate Confirmation process has proven politically turbulent. This has been exacerbated with the removal of acting Attorney General Sally Yates upon her refusal to enforce [JURIST report] the most executive order and immigration ban. The Republican senator and former US attorney had been the first senate member to support Trump [CBS/AP report] during his presidential campaign, and he later worked with Trump to construct immigration, trade and counterterrorism policies. In the past, Sessions has been accused of racism and support of mass deportation of illegal immigrants, which he addressed [JURIST report] during his confirmation hearings. Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to delay [Alabama Today report] the vote on Sessions’ confirmation until the end of January. The Trump Administration has stated that the confirmation is “being wrongly held up by Democrat senators for strictly political reasons.”