Jeff Sessions facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jeff Sessions
Official portrait, 2017
84th United States Attorney General
In office February 9, 2017 – November 7, 2018
President	Donald Trump
Deputy	Dana Boente (acting) Rod Rosenstein
Preceded by	Loretta Lynch
Succeeded by	Matthew Whitaker (acting) William Barr
United States Senator from Alabama
In office January 3, 1997 – February 8, 2017
Preceded by	Howell Heflin
Succeeded by	Luther Strange
44th Attorney General of Alabama
In office January 16, 1995 – January 3, 1997
Governor	Fob James
Preceded by	Jimmy Evans
Succeeded by	William H. Pryor Jr.
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama
In office February 1981 – March 23, 1993
President	Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton
Preceded by	William Kimbrough
Succeeded by	Don Foster
Personal details
Born	Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (1946-12-24) December 24, 1946 (age 78) Selma, Alabama, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mary Blackshear ​ (m. 1969)​
Children	3
Education	Huntingdon College (BA) University of Alabama (JD)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army United States Army Reserve
Years of service	1973–1977
Rank	Captain
Unit	1184th United States Army Transportation Terminal Unit

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States attorney general from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States senator from Alabama from 1997 to 2017 before resigning that position to serve as attorney general in the administration of President Donald Trump.

Early life and early career

Sessions was born in Selma, Alabama, on December 24, 1946, the son of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Jr., and the former Abbie Powe. Sessions, his father, and his grandfather were named after Jefferson Davis, a U.S. senator and president of the Confederate States of America, and P. G. T. Beauregard, a veteran of the Mexican–American War and a Confederate general who oversaw the Battle of Fort Sumter that commenced the American Civil War. His father owned a general store in Hybart, Alabama, and later owned a farm equipment dealership. Both Sessions's parents were primarily of English descent, with some Scots-Irish ancestry. In 1964, Sessions became an Eagle Scout, and later, he earned the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award for his many years of service.

After attending Wilcox County High School in nearby Camden, Sessions studied at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1969. He was active in the Young Republicans, the marching band and was student body president. Sessions attended the University of Alabama School of Law and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1973.

Sessions entered the private practice of law in Russellville and later in Mobile. He also served in the Army Reserve in the 1970s with the rank of captain.

Career

From 1981 to 1993, Sessions served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan nominated Sessions to a judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. Sessions was elected attorney general of Alabama in 1994. In 1996, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and was re-elected in 2002, 2008 and 2014. During his Senate tenure, Sessions was considered one of the most conservative senators. His Senate voting record includes votes against comprehensive immigration reform (2006), the 2008 bank bailout, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Affordable Care Act (2009) and criminal justice reform (2015).

Committee assignments

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Airland
  • Subcommittee on Seapower
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces (Chairman)
• Committee on the Budget
• Committee on Environment and Public Works
  • Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
  • Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy
  • Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts
  • Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs
  • Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Refugees (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security
• International Narcotics Control Caucus

Attorney General of the United States (2017–2018)

Sessions speaking at a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on August 31, 2016

Sessions arriving at Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2017

Sessions being sworn in at his confirmation hearing on January 10, 2017

Sessions is sworn in as Attorney General by Vice President Mike Pence.

Sessions was an early supporter of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign; he was nominated by Trump for the post of U.S. attorney general. He was confirmed and sworn in as attorney general in February 2017. In his confirmation hearings, Sessions stated under oath that he did not have contact with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign and that he was unaware of any contact between Trump campaign members and Russian officials. However, in March 2017, news reports revealed that Sessions had twice met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in 2016. Sessions later recused himself from any investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. A staunch opponent of illegal immigration, Sessions adopted a hard line on sanctuary cities and told reporters that cities failing to comply with federal immigration policy would lose federal funding. He also played a key role in the implementation of the Trump administration family separation policy.

Sessions at a press event in Birmingham, Alabama on June 24, 2020

On November 7, 2018 (the day after the 2018 midterm elections), Sessions resigned as attorney general at the president's request.Sessions ran in the 2020 Senate election in Alabama to reclaim his old seat, but lost in the Republican primary to Tommy Tuberville, who was supported by President Trump.

Political positions

During his tenure, Sessions was considered one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate.

Immigration

U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions addressing voters in 2011

Sessions was an opponent of legal and illegal immigration during his time in Congress. He opposed the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 and the bi-partisan Gang of Eight's Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013. He said that a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants undermines the rule of law, that the inflow of guest workers and immigrants depresses wages and raises unemployment for United States citizens, and that current immigration policy expands an underclass dependent on the welfare state.

Senator Sessions speaks during Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA) 2012 in Nashville, TN

Higher education and research

In 2013, Sessions sent a letter to National Endowment for the Humanities enquiring why the foundation funded projects that he deemed frivolous. He also criticized the foundation for distributing books related to Islam to hundreds of U.S. libraries, saying "Using taxpayer dollars to fund education program grant questions that are very indefinite or in an effort to seemingly use Federal funds on behalf of just one religion, does not on its face appear to be the appropriate means to establish confidence in the American people that NEH expenditures are wise."

Health care reform

In 2006, Sessions coauthored legislation amending the Ryan White CARE Act to increase the share of HIV/AIDS funding going to rural states, including Alabama.

Sessions opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

Following Senator Ted Cruz's 21-hour speech opposing the Affordable Care Act in 2013, Sessions joined Cruz and 17 other senators in a failed vote against cloture on a comprehensive government funding bill that would have continued funding healthcare reform.

Energy and environment

Sessions speaks at the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London in 2018

Sessions rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He has voted in favor of legislation that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases. He has voted to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Sessions is a proponent of nuclear power.

Personal life

Sessions and his wife Mary have three children and as of March 2020, ten grandchildren. The family attends a United Methodist church. Specifically, Jeff and Mary Sessions are members of the Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile; Jeff Sessions has taught Sunday school there.

Electoral history

2020

2014

2008

2002

1996

1994

See also

In Spanish: Jeff Sessions para niños