Senator Chuck Schumer Image by getty images

By Josh Nathan-Kazis January 12, 2017

In a series of early morning tweets on Thursday, Senator Chuck Schumer announced that he would vote against the confirmation of Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, Senator Jeff Sessions.

Schumer, the new leader of the Senate Democrats, made conciliatory gestures towards Trump in late December. But in recent days, he has pushed back hard against the Republican’s efforts to ram through Trump’s cabinet nominees.

In his tweets against Sessions, Schumer slammed the Alabama Senator on his immigration views.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“I will oppose Senator Sessions’ nomination to serve as the next Attorney General,” Schumer wrote.

I am not confident in Sen Sessions’ ability to defend the rights of all Americans, or to serve as indep. check on the next administration.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 12, 2017

The stance against Sessions comes days after Schumer tweeted snarkily at Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, to complain that there had not been enough time to vet Cabinet nominees for conflicts of interest before their hearings.

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount