Jeff Sessions Wants To Return To The Senate, GOP Sources Say
By Debbie Elliott
Jeff Sessions wants his old job back – not his job as U.S. Attorney General, but as Alabama senator. GOP sources tell NPR that Sessions is going to soon announce his campaign for the Alabama Senate seat that he held for 20 years. The person currently in that seat is Democrat Doug Jones, who is considered to be the most vulnerable member of the U.S. Senate.
Sessions was the first senator to get behind President Donald Trump’s campaign, long before Trump’s plan to build the wall. He was a border hawk and had Trump’s ear on immigration policy.
But Sessions’ comeback bid is complicated by his soured relationship with Trump. Sessions stepped down as attorney general after being repeatedly mocked by Trump, angered that Sessions recused himself from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
The question is how voters will respond now that Sessions is out of favor with the president. Trump has his highest approval rating in the country in Alabama.
Other GOP candidates, including Congressman Bradley Byrne, and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, promised to stand with the president. Tuberville tweeted that Sessions failed the president at his greatest point of need. The qualifying deadline is Friday.
Jeff Sessions entrance into this race is not a surprise. He’s been out of the swamp for less than two years, and now he’s itching to go back. He’s another career politician that the voters of Alabama will reject. As AG, he failed the President at his point of greatest need.
— Tommy Tuberville (@TTuberville) November 6, 2019
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Tropical Storm Chantal strengthens slightly as it nears landfall in South Carolina
Tropical Storm Chantal grew in strength as it approached the southeast U.S. coast. It's forecasted to bring heavy rains to parts of the Carolinas on Sunday.
Dalai Lama, a global symbol of Tibetan culture and resistance, turns 90
The Dalai Lama turned 90 on Sunday surrounded by thousands of followers, who thronged the Himalayan town of Dharamshala.
Iran’s supreme leader makes first public appearance since Iran-Israel war started
Iran' s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public appearance since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran began, attending a mourning ceremony on the eve of Ashoura.
At least 43 dead in catastrophic Texas flooding and dozens missing from girls camp
Flash flooding slammed the Texas Hill Country overnight on Friday. At least 27 girls from a summer camp next to the Guadalupe River remain missing.
How this long-lost Chinese typewriter from the 1940s changed modern computing
The concepts in the MingKwai typewriter underlie how Chinese, Japanese and Korean are typed today. The typewriter, patented in 1946, was found last year in an upstate New York basement.
North Korea has a new luxury beach resort. But the country isn’t open to most tourists
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he wants the luxury resort on the eastern seacoast to become a "world destination," but the country has been reluctant to allow in foreign tourists.