Why the grilling of US attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions matters
Sessions’s orthodox conservative ideology may determine his policy priorities on immigration, marijuana and the cornerstone of American democracy — voting rights
New York — The questions raised by US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Jeff Sessions, centre not on his ideology but on his priorities. One of the most conservative members of the Senate, representing Alabama — one of the US’s most conservative states — Sessions can be expected to be faithful to conservative orthodoxy. The issue is how he will choose to deploy the vast resources of the department known as the world’s largest law firm, with more than 10,000 lawyers. Three policy areas will help the Senate determine the answer: immigration, marijuana and voting rights. On immigration, illegal and otherwise, Sessions has been a critic. Sessions has decried what he calls the "Silicon Valley STEM hoax", arguing that the nation has no shortage of skilled technology workers. It’s true that some companies have exploited the system, using it to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labour. It is also true the US is engaged in a fierce global competition to...
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