Story highlights Mark Meadows is chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus

He wrote his op-ed with Rep. Jim Jordan, a conservative Republican from Ohio

(CNN) Two leading members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign in an op-ed published Thursday morning, writing that "it's time for Jeff Sessions to go."

Mark Meadows, Freedom Caucus chair, and Jim Jordan, a member who sits on the oversight and judiciary committees in the US House of Representatives, wrote the op-ed for the Washington Examiner , and criticized Sessions' handling of the department's investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

"Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the Russia investigation, but it would appear he has no control at all of the premier law enforcement agency in the world," they wrote. "It is time for Sessions to start managing in a spirit of transparency to bring all of this improper behavior to light and stop further violations."

The Republican congressmen charged that "if Sessions can't address this issue immediately, then we have one final question needing an answer: When is it time for a new attorney general? Sadly, it seems the answer is now."

The Justice Department did immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

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