Jeff Sessions cleared the Judiciary Committee on an 11-9 party-line vote. | Getty Sessions clears committee on party-line 11-9 vote

After a day of procedural rancor in the Senate, Jeff Sessions narrowly cleared the Judiciary Committee in his bid to become the nation’s next attorney general — teeing off a contentious battle on the Senate floor where his eventual confirmation is essentially inevitable.

The vote in the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday was a party-line 11-9 vote.


Democrats successfully delayed Sessions’ committee vote by one day after delivering lengthy diatribes against the Alabama senator’s record and his close ties to President Donald Trump — and then using the rarely-invoked “two-hour” rule, which bans committees from meeting for more than two hours after the Senate comes into session.

But Democrats on the Judiciary Committee signaled on Tuesday that they would not boycott Sessions’ vote, like Democrats elsewhere did for other nominees this week.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Education Secretary hopeful Betsy DeVos, and then Sessions, are the two nominees next on the floor.

Burgess Everett contributed to this report.