Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) told Breitbart News late last week that the United States senate should oppose any nominee to replace outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder who does not “firmly reject” President Obama’s executive amnesty plan.
“The Attorney General is the top law enforcement position in government. But Mr. Holder’s DOJ has taken numerous actions that have weakened the rule of law in America, and none more dramatically than his political actions that have undermined the immigration laws of the United States,” Sessions said. “Amazingly, he declared amnesty to be a ‘civil right’ for individuals who entered or remained illegally in the country. Behind the back of the American people, the Justice Department negotiated an agreement with the ACLU to allow deported illegal immigrants to return to the U.S. He reduced prosecutions of illegal immigrants required by the proven Operation Streamline program. He is using tax dollars to provide lawyers for unlawful immigrants. And the President has stated that he is depending on the Attorney General, along with Homeland Security Secretary, to advise him on developing and implementing an executive amnesty.”
Holder announced Thursday that he planned to resign as Attorney General after a tumultuous time in office that saw him become the first AG in history to be held in contempt of congress.
#Holder legacy: Fast & Furious. Spying on reporters. Contempt of Congress. No integrity or respect for the rule of law. Good riddance.
— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) September 26, 2014
Names being floated as a possible replacement for Holder include Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr., Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and former White House counsel Kathy Ruemmler, among others.
Whoever the president nominates, history says he or she will have a difficult path to getting confirmed by the senate. According to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight, “Attorney general nominees are by far the most likely to face serious resistance” when compared to other presidential appointments that require senate confirmation.
Holder’s replacement will face the added challenges of the closely, yet fiercely divided U.S. senate and the widely held belief among conservatives — and many others across the ideological spectrum — that Holder allowed politics to infiltrate in an unprecedented way what is supposed to be the nation’s top law enforcement office.
Sessions said that he is specifically looking for a nominee who adheres to the rule of law, particularly when it comes to the nation’s borders.
“We need someone at the Department of Justice who will restore fidelity to our national laws and boundaries,” Sessions said. “No Senator should vote to confirm anyone to this position who does not firmly reject the President’s planned executive amnesty—or any other scheme to circumvent our nation’s immigration laws—and who does not pledge to serve the laws and people of the United States.”
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