Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s job security is in question after taking withering fire from fellow Republicans this week, including from two prominent House conservatives who called on him to resign, The Hill reports.
Two leaders of the House Freedom Caucus, Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), called on Sessions to step aside in an op-ed Friday, charging he has lost control of the Department of Justice and the FBI.
Sessions has also come under criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike for his decision to rescind the Obama-era Cole memo, which gave states the space to legalize marijuana without fear of federal interference.
By withdrawing the memo, Sessions gave federal prosecutors more leeway to pursue cases against the legal marijuana industry, which is expanding rapidly in several states.
Sen. Cory Gardner (R), whose home state of Colorado is host to a booming legal cannabis industry, ripped Sessions on the Senate floor Thursday and accused him of breaking a personal pledge not to change the Obama-era policy.
“When you have Republicans calling for you to step down and you’re in a Republican administration just entering your second year, that’s trouble. He’s really on borrowed time,” said Brian Darling, a Republican strategist and former Senate aide.
“This is an attorney general who has been ridiculed by his own boss on Twitter,” he said, referring to President Trump. “At one point he didn’t have the confidence of his own boss and he’s losing the confidence of the Freedom Caucus and conservatives in the House and Senate.”
Trump reiterated his frustration with Sessions in a recent interview, again criticizing his decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
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