Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions has decided to run for his old Senate seat in Alabama, several Republican officials with knowledge of the matter told Politico on Wednesday.
He is expected to make an official announcement on Thursday. Sessions, 72, was a senator from 1997 to 2017, and was the first one to endorse Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. Sessions was Trump's first attorney general, and stepped down amid criticism from Trump, who was mad when Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation. Earlier this year, Trump said picking Sessions as attorney general was his "biggest mistake."
Two Republican officials told The Associated Press Sessions has not talked about his decision with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) or Trump. The deadline to file for the Senate race is Friday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.