![Senate Subcommittee Hearing To Assess The Security Of Critical Transportation Infrastructure Senate Subcommittee Hearing To Assess The Security Of Critical Transportation Infrastructure](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/cory-booker-jeff-sessions.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said he will testify this week against Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions—a move his office has said is unprecedented in Senate history.
“I’m breaking a pretty long Senate tradition by actually being a sitting Senator testifying tomorrow against another sitting Senator,” Booker said Monday in an interview with MSNBC. “Please understand, I think these are extraordinary times, and they call for extraordinary measures.”
Sessions’ confirmation hearings for the role of attorney general begin Tuesday. Booker told MSNBC that he plans to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday or Wednesday.
“We’ve seen consistently Jeff Sessions—that’s Senator Jeff Sessions—voting against everything from the Matthew Shepard Act, voting against or speaking out against key ideals around the Voting Rights Act, taking measures to try to block criminal justice reform,” Booker said on MSNBC. “He has a posture and a positioning that I think represent a real danger to our country.”
Others have also raised concerns about Sessions’ stance on key issues, including voting rights, freedom of speech and religious freedom.
Booker’s office said the Senate historian has not been able to find a prior instance of a sitting senator testifying against another siting senator nominated for a White House Cabinet position, NBC News reported.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race , Endorses Harris to Replace Him
- Why Biden Dropped Out
- The Chaos and Commotion of the RNC in Photos
- Why We All Have a Stake in Twisters’ Success
- 8 Eating Habits That Actually Improve Your Sleep
- Stop Feeling Bad About Sweating
- Welcome to the Noah Lyles Olympics
- Get Our Paris Olympics Newsletter in Your Inbox
Write to Katie Reilly at Katie.Reilly@time.com