WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on the Senate confirmation hearing for President-elect Donald Trump’s selection for attorney general (all times EST):
9:20 a.m
Sen. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, is expected to outline his conservative priorities for the Justice Department in two days of confirmation hearings that open Tuesday. In his opening statement released before the hearing, he says the office of attorney general “is not a political position” and anyone who holds it must be faithful to laws and the Constitution.
The Alabama senator says he understands the history of civil rights “and the horrendous impact that relentless and systemic discrimination and the denial of voting rights has had on our African-American brothers and sisters.”
Democrats have questioned Sessions’ record on civil rights and whether he would be able to be independent of Trump’s administration. They also are likely to press him on his hard-line stance on immigration policy.