Sen. Jeff Sessions survived his first test floor vote Thursday, putting him on the path to win confirmation as the next attorney general.

The 53-45 vote saw two Democrats join the GOP in voting to begin debating the Sessions nomination. Democrats are making Republicans go through all the procedural hurdles for each of President Trump’s nominees — a level of obstruction not seen for any other president in modern political history.

Next up for Mr. Sessions, an Alabama Republican, is a filibuster vote, likely early next week. Then he’ll have a final confirmation vote.

Nearly every Democrat in the chamber voted against Mr. Sessions, marking a stunning rejection of a colleague most of them have served with for years.

Democratic leaders said their vote wasn’t a statement on Mr. Sessions himself, but rather on the policies they feared he would pursue at the Justice Department. They also said they weren’t convinced he would be an independent check on Mr. Trump.

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