When Sen. Jeff Sessions starts grilling the next Supreme Court nominee, he’ll have to be careful.
More than 22 yeas ago, the Alabama Republican lost his bid to become a federal judge because Democrats accused him of being a racist, a charge that he vehemently denied.
Many of the senators who sit with Sessions on the Senate Judiciary Committee were serving when the panel killed Sessions’ nomination to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 over remarks Sessions made about the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Now Sessions sits as the ranking Republican on the same committee that must soon consider whomever President Barack Obama nominates to replace retiring Justice David Souter.
Obama is expected to nominate a woman — probably a minority — leaving some to wonder how Sessions will navigate a potentially treacherous political situation yet be tough enough on the nominee to satisfy conservatives.
Political observers believe Sessions’ past will force him to take a lighter approach with a nominee, particularly if Obama picks someone like Judges Sonia Sotomayor, who is Hispanic, or Leah Ward Sears, who is black.
“Sessions has worked hard to get along with colleagues, which wasn’t a given after his pre-Senate rejection for a judgeship,” noted University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato. “While Alabama would continue to re-elect him regardless, I doubt he wants to become the center of a firestorm about race. He knows the press and bloggers would immediately link the current controversy to the prior charges about his racial insensitivity.”
The bloggers on the Left are already gearing up for an attack on Sessions. Shortly after he was named ranking member on the committee earlier this month, liberal blogs began resurrecting the transcripts from Sessions’ nomination hearings.
Sessions has already tried to neutralize the race issue, telling reporters that Obama is doing the right thing in trying to fill the vacancy to be left by Souter with a minority or female candidate.
“It is legitimate for the White House to affirmatively seek out qualified minority applicants,” Sessions told the Birmingham News last week. “I think most people would welcome minority applicants, although they should meet the same standards, and there are plenty of women and African-Americans and others who can meet those standards.”
Republicans who have worked closely with Sessions say his ability to grill a nominee will not be hampered.
“Jeff has a history of reaching across the aisle racially as well as politically,” said Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala. “I don’t think he is going to be softer on someone because of the color of their skin.”
Former Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who has been on the committee since before Sessions’ nomination was blocked, said Sessions above all else was a skilled lawyer who would be able to ask hard questions without appearing unfair.
“He’s a rock-rib conservative, very smart,” Hatch said. “And he’s very courteous and very generous in his comments.”
