Just minutes after the Senate approved Jeff Sessions as the new U.S. Attorney General, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) pledged to take the new AG to court if he violates the Constitution.
In a tweet, the ACLU said, “If he violates the Constitution, we’ll sue.”
Tweet:
BREAKING: Jeff Sessions confirmed as attorney general.
If he violates the Constitution, we’ll sue. pic.twitter.com/le02tuG2Pg
— ACLU National (@ACLU) February 9, 2017
Judging from the group’s swift response to the Sessions confirmation, which was a devastating blow for civil rights advocates, it’s clear that the ACLU remains on the front lines in the battle to resist the new administration and ensure they are held accountable for any civil rights violations.
Just last month, in fact, it was the ACLU that successfully challenged Donald Trump’s immigration ban, prompting a federal court to halt parts of the president’s unpopular executive order, which targets Muslims and refugees but also wrongly denied legal visa holders entry into the U.S. and wreaked havoc at airports across the country.
Following the president’s executive order, the ACLU raised $24.2 million – a record amount of money for the organization in such a short period of time.
With Sessions’ confirmation as attorney general, their work is even more imperative going forward, as it’s clear Sessions will be more adamant about defending Donald Trump than he will be about protecting the civil rights of all Americans. Not only will the new attorney general work to undo the progress of the Obama years, but he will likely attempt to set the civil rights clock back by decades.
With Sessions now holding this key post, the attorney general – at least under this administration – will no longer be an independent check on the executive branch. Instead, Sessions, one of Trump’s earliest supporters during the campaign, will likely let Trump have his way.
The ACLU is already proving that they will fill the accountability vacuum left behind and hold the new administration responsible for its inevitable Constitutional violations.
It hasn’t even been a day, and Jeff Sessions is already on thin ice.