Legal experts and progressive advocacy groups immediately raised alarm at the prospect of Whitaker overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, given that he argued in an opinion piece last year that the investigation has gone "too far."
The day after Sessions' ouster, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across the nation to highlight the "existential threat" Whitaker poses to Mueller's investigation.
While the Justice Department has predictably defended Trump's appointment of Whitaker as legal, Sen. Blumenthal argued in a statement that Whitaker must be confirmed by the Senate in order to lawfully serve as acting attorney general.
"Installing Matthew Whitaker so flagrantly defies constitutional law that any viewer of School House Rock would recognize it. Americans prize a system of checks and balances, which President Trump's dictatorial appointment betrays," Blumenthal said. "President Trump is denying senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nation's top law enforcement official. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test."
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