New York Senator Chuck Schumer made it plain that he will vote against the confirmation of Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump's embattled nominee for Attorney General. Schumer denounced Sessions with both a formal statement and series of tweets Thursday, stating "I am not confident in Senator Sessions' ability to be a defender of the rights of all Americans, or to serve as an independent check on the incoming administration."

Sessions, a Republican Senator from Alabama, has come under heavy fire from civil rights advocacy groups since Trump announced him as his AG pick. Members of the NAACP were arrested while staging a sit-in protest at Sessions's Alabama office, and the ACLU has repeatedly contested his positions on civil rights, LGBT rights, capital punishment, and women's rights.

In 1986, Sessions was nominated by President Reagan to a federal district court judgeship, only to be blocked by a Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee on the grounds of allegedly racist comments he had made.

For Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader and Trump's most prominent Democratic opponent in Washington, Sessions's views on immigration were enough to convince him to vote nay. "I am also deeply concerned by his views on immigration, which I saw firsthand during the push for comprehensive immigration reform. For those reasons, I will oppose his nomination to serve as the next attorney general," Schumer said Thursday.

During his confirmation hearings Tuesday and Wednesday, Sessions stressed he would be ready to tell Donald Trump "No" when necessary and considers torture practices like waterboarding to be illegal. However, when pressed on issues of disproportionate discrimination faced by women and LGBTQ Americans, Sessions contested "I just don't see it." In the past, the Alabama Senator has referred to the Voting Rights Act as "a piece of intrusive legislation."

Sessions's confirmation also received pushback from New Jersey Democrat Corey Booker, who on Wednesday became the first sitting Senator to testify against a colleague in a confirmation hearing.

“Sen. Sessions has not demonstrated a commitment to a central requisite of the job, to aggressively pursue the congressional mandate of civil rights, equal rights, and justice for all of our citizens,” Booker said. “In fact, at numerous times in his career, he has demonstrated a hostility towards these convictions and has worked to frustrate attempts to advance these ideals.”

Booker continued: “If confirmed, Sen. Sessions will be required to pursue justice for women, but his record indicates that he won’t. He will be expected to defend the equal rights of gay and lesbian and transgender Americans, but his record indicates that he won’t. He will be expected to defend voting rights, but his record indicates that he won’t. He will be expected to defend the rights of immigrants and affirm their human dignity, but the record indicates that he won’t.”

A vote on Sessions will take place at some point after Trump's inauguration. Sessions needs 51 votes in the Senate to be approved, and no Republican Senators have said publicly that they will vote against him. All 48 Senate Democrats would need to vote against Sessions and be joined by three Republicans in order for his confirmation to be rejected.