Strange sworn in to replace Sessions
WASHINGTON — Republican Luther Strange, Alabama’s attorney general, was sworn in on Thursday to fill the Senate seat left empty by Jeff Sessions, tapped by President Donald Trump to be the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, RUtah, administered the oath to Strange, a well- connected Republican and former Washington lobbyist. Attorney General Sessions and Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama were at Strange’s side in the well of the Senate, and applause filled the chamber after the oath.
Strange joins the Senate after Sessions’ confirmation as U.S. attorney general Wednesday night. The 63-year-old lawyer has been the state’s attorney general since 2011. His selection caps two months of jockeying and political guessing games over who would get the nod from Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley.
The appointment comes two months after Strange asked the Alabama House Judiciary Committee to pause an impeachment probe of Bentley, who was accused last year of having an affair with a onetime top political adviser.
Bentley has acknowledged making personal mistakes, but denied doing anything legally wrong.
Strange, sometimes referred to as “Big Luther” because of his 6-foot-9 frame, announced last year his intentions to run for the coveted Senate seat regardless of whether he got the interim appointment.
“It is the honor of my life,” Strange said at a news conference in which Bentley signed the official appointment letter. “I’m very excited about this opportunity to head to Washington in this historic time in our nation’s history.”
After the swearing-in, Strange reprised the event for cameras in the Old Senate Chamber, where senators met until 1859.