By RFD Radio/WFMB

WASHINGTON – The showdown over Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination to become Attorney General ended with a close vote after a contentious battle.

The Alabama Senator narrowly won confirmation.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., rejected the notion that Senate Democrats should get out of the way of Cabinet nominees based on the outcome of the election.

“I understand that President Trump won the election,” Durbin said. “But that doesn’t mean when it comes to advise and contest that every member of the Senate has to bow and step back a few steps for every nominee proposed by this new president. We have a right and responsibility to ask what’s right for America.”

Durbin also expressed deep concern over what he called Sessions’ checkered record on civil rights and immigration as well as his unwillingness to commit Justice Department resources to address gun violence in Chicago.

Durbin’s Illinois colleague Tammy Duckworth also voted against Sessions’ confirmation.

“Senator Sessions voted against extending hate crime protections to Americans who are targeted because of their gender, disability or sexual orientation,” Duckworth said. “He argued for religious discrimination against Muslims. He wanted to pass a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage and criticized legal protections for people with disabilities as ‘irritating’ and ‘unnecessary.’ “