Sessions to testify before Senate panel about DOJ oversight
Attorney General Jeff Sessions will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee next month to testify in a hearing on Justice Department oversight, while his Department of Justice manages a number of high-profile issues.
Sessions' confirmed appearance on Oct 18 will mark the first time Sessions will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is tasked with overseeing the DOJ. It is also the first Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on DOJ since Sessions took office. Sessions is the only witness listed, at least, so far.
Sessions is seen as one of the most committed members of President Trump's administration, going to bat for the president's agenda on everything from border security to combatting leakers. Sessions has recused himself from the investigation into Russian election meddling and any ties to Trump associates, which has been a point of contention with Mr. Trump in the past.
Oversight hearings are a routine function of congressional committees. But that doesn't mean committee members — perhaps particularly Democrats — will have a slew of questions for the attorney general related to the controversies plaguing Mr. Trump's administration. The forum will provide plenty of opportunities to question Sessions, who often ends news conferences with major announcements — such as when he announced the Trump administration would be ending of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program — without taking any questions from the press.
Sessions testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June, during the fallout of the firing of former FBI Director James Comey. In his testimony, Sessions declined to disclose conversations with the president, and said he was never briefed on Russian election interference in the weeks after assuming his position.
