According to Sen. Lindsey Graham, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is likely to resign after the midterm election. “Jeff will probably step down. We’ll have a new attorney general most likely early next year,” Graham (R-S.C.) said on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show Monday.
Neither Sessions nor President Trump have commented specifically on a potential resignation, but the two have feuded several times since the 2016 appointment, and the relationship between them is surely short of workable.
The natural response would be to assume that Graham is eyeing the position, despite other rumors suggesting he is interesting in leading the Senate Judiciary Committee next term. Graham dispelled rumors that he would be the next Attorney General:
“People ask me about being attorney general and other jobs,” Graham said. “I will be in the NBA before I leave the Senate. And I don’t like my chances.”
Hewitt pressed Graham on another potential candidate for AG, Mike Luttig, who was formerly a federal judge and is now general counsel for Boeing. Graham insisted he did not have any information on whom President Trump would tap to replace Sessions. Graham did say he thinks Luttig would make a fine Supreme Court justice.
Despite Graham’s supposed lack of interest, if Sessions steps down and Graham is appointed, Nikki Haley — former South Carolina governor and recently retired U.N. ambassador — could take Graham’s senate seat.
The calculated political moves are definitely possible and could in fact be likely. Following today’s midterm election, everything will be cleared up.
