There wasn’t any real suspense about Sen. Jeff Sessions’ confirmation as U.S. attorney general.
Seven of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees have been confirmed to date, four of them by large bipartisan majorities. Indeed, in the 228 years since George Washington picked the first Cabinet, the Senate has outright rejected only nine nominations. The most recent was John Tower, a Texas Republican who was President George H.W. Bush’s choice for defense secretary in 1989. His former colleagues rejected him on a vote that broke largely along party lines.
Former senators are usually treated with the same deference as sitting senators, but the debate was fierce and undoubtedly embarrassing for Tower, who was accused of personal misconduct. No one was rebuked or censored for maligning a former colleague. Neither was Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas sanctioned when he rose on the Senate floor in 2015 and called Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a liar.
Yet it seems that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., crossed a red line during the Senate’s consideration Tuesday of Sessions’ nomination. Her offense? Trying to read into the record a 1986 letter from Coretta Scott King, the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., opposing confirmation of Sessions as a U.S. District Court judge.
McConnell accused Warren of violating a Senate rule, and she was prohibited from speaking during the remainder of the debate.
Is King’s letter so explosive that it shouldn’t be heard by U.S. senators and a C-Span audience? Judge for yourself:
Dear Senator Thurmond:
I write to express my sincere opposition to the confirmation of Jefferson B. Sessions as a federal district court judge for the Southern District of Alabama. My professional and personal roots in Alabama are deep and lasting. Anyone who has used the power of his office as United States Attorney to intimidate and chill the free exercise of the ballot by citizens should not be elevated to our courts. Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. For this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship.
I regret that a long-standing commitment prevents me from appearing in person to testify against this nominee. However, I have attached a copy of my statement opposing Mr. Sessions’ confirmation and I request that my statement as well as this be made a part of the hearing record.
I do sincerely urge you to oppose the confirmation of Mr. Sessions.
Sincerely,
Coretta Scott King
Sessions wasn’t confirmed to the bench. A decade later, he was elected to the Senate, where he has served since.
We believe presidents should have great — but not limitless — discretion in choosing advisers, Cabinet secretaries and other officials. We also thought that the Senate was capable of observing decorum and conducting robust debates. Apparently, however, the present leadership is taking its lead from Trump, who seems committed to quashing any criticism or disagreement (or even a retailer’s decision to drop his daughter’s line of clothing).
What occurred on the Senate floor Tuesday had nothing to do with rules or decorum or hoary traditions. Warren raised an issue germane to Sessions’ qualifications for the powerful position he will fill, and she was stifled. It was an affront to free speech. For that, McConnell ought to be rebuked.
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