The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday delayed a vote on the confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to be attorney general until Jan. 31.
Per committee rules, any member can request a one-week delay. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the senior Democrat on the panel, made the request.
“Of course, I’ll honor that request,” Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said on Tuesday, adding there will be “plenty of time” next week to debate Session’s nomination.
According to Feinstein, Sessions’ nomination is “a very big deal” following demonstrations against President Trump on Saturday.
Sessions “must be a zealous advocate for the American people. All the American people,” Feinstein said Tuesday, citing the issues of women’s rights, abortion, equal pay, the environment and others.
“The least we can do is tell marchers we’ll be as careful as possible about who we put in place to make these decisions,” she said.
On Sunday, Sessions also turned over nearly 190 pages of questions in response to a lawmaker questionnaire, and senators and their staff need more time to review them, she said.
“This nomination is a very big deal,” Feinstein explained. “Our staff needs time to go through these answers and we need time to put them in context.”
Despite the delay, Sessions is expected to be confirmed. He needs only 50 votes to clear the upper chamber, and Republicans have a 52-seat majority.
