The Senate voted to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions as the next U.S. Attorney General Wednesday evening after a long and contentious confirmation battle.
The Alabama Senator was confirmed by a 52-47 vote, almost exclusively along party lines. No Republican voted against him, and West Virginia’s Sen. Joe Manchin III was the only Democrat who supported him, according to the Washington Post.
His confirmation comes a day after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rebuked Sen. Elizabeth Warren for apparently breaking a Senate rule. He accused her of impugning Sessions by reading a letter by Coretta Scott King in opposition to Sessions’ 1986 federal district court judge nomination.
“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted,” McConnell said, his words sparking backlash on social media on Wednesday.
In the nine-page letter letter written in 1986, King accused Sessions of using his role as a U.S. attorney to undercut voting rights.
“Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters,” wrote King, who died in 2006.
The White House is scheduled to swear Sessions in Thursday morning, according to CNN.
