Patrick Smith/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The Senate will vote Wednesday night on whether to confirm Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as the next attorney general in the Trump administration.

Sessions’ nomination as the head of the Department of Justice has drawn significant criticism from Democrats and civil rights groups. In 1986, he failed to be confirmed for a federal judgeship following testimony that he made racially tinged remarks. His confirmation hearings last month were also not without controversy.

Here’s everything you need to know about Sessions:

Name: Jefferson Beauregard “Jeff” Sessions III

Party: Republican

Date of Birth: December 24, 1946

Hometown: Selma, Alabama, a city that had a notable role in the Civil Rights Movement. Earlier this year, Sessions reflected on the historic nature of his birthplace. “Certainly I feel like I should have stepped forward more,” he said of his role in the Civil Rights Movement.

Family Tree: Sessions was born to Abbie and Jefferson Beauregard Sessions. His father owned a general store in Hybart, Alabama, and a farm equipment dealership. He has three children and six grandchildren.

Age: 70

What He Does Now: U.S. senator from Alabama (serving his fourth term)

What He Used to Do: Sessions brings almost 20 years of experience to the Senate. He was first elected in 1996. He is also a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and served as Alabama’s 44th attorney general (elected in 1994). From 1981 to 1993, he also served as US Attorney for Alabama’s Southern District, and from 1975 to 1977 he was Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama.

He supported President George W. Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cut packages, the war in Iraq and a proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage. He has opposed most major Democratic legislation, including the stimulus bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act.

From a legal perspective, Sessions is “a leading advocate of confirming federal judges who follow the law and do not legislate from the bench,” according to his Senate website.

In August of 2016, he told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota he thinks the Clinton Foundation should be fully investigated, because he thinks Hillary Clinton used her position as Secretary of State to garner funds for the foundation. During his Senate hearings last month, Sessions vowed that if he’s confirmed as attorney general, he would recuse himself from any matters related to Clinton.

What You May Not Know About Him:

•    He was ranked by the National Journal in 2007 as the fifth most conservative U.S. senator.

•    He worked as a lawyer in Russellville and Mobile, where he still lives. He was a captain for the Army Reserve in the 1970s.

•    As an Eagle Scout, Sessions was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. The Scouts’ motto, “Be Prepared,” is still on his desk in his Senate office.

Key Life and Career Moments:

•    Sessions earned a B.A. from Huntingdon College in Montgomery in 1969. He later earned a J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1973.

•    Sessions was one of only three senators to vote against additional funding for the Veterans Affairs medical system. He opposed the bill due to cost concerns and indicated that Congress should instead focus on “reforms and solutions that improve the quality of service and the effectiveness that is delivered.”

•    He has taken a strong stance against any immigration reform, and believes in the need for a stronger Southern border fence.

•    He is pro-life, a major opponent of same-sex marriage and is know for the Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize funding through 2018 to help victims of child abuse. Sessions said “there is no higher duty than protecting our nation’s children.”

About His 1986 Confirmation Hearing:

In 1986, Ronald Reagan nominated Sessions to be a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.

He was not confirmed — the Senate Judiciary committee voted 10-8 against recommending Sessions to the whole Senate.

Four lawyers who had worked with Sessions said he had made racist comments. One said he had called the NAACP “un-American” and “Communist-inspired.” Another said Sessions had called him “boy” and told him to be “careful what you say to white folks.” Sessions denied the allegations.

The lawyer also said Sessions told him he thought the KKK was “OK until I found out they smoked pot.” Sessions said the comment had been a joke but apologized.

In his Senate confirmation hearings last month, Sessions said, “This caricature of me in 1986 was not correct. I conducted myself honorably and properly at that time.” He also added, “I did not harbor the animosities … that I was accused of. I did not.”

What He Has Said About Trump:

Sessions was the first sitting senator to endorse Trump back in February 2016, ahead of Super Tuesday and the Alabama primary. “I told Donald Trump this isn’t a campaign, this is a movement,” Sessions said at a rally in Madison, Alabama. Sessions acknowledged that “we don’t get everything we want” in a candidate but added: “At this time, in my best judgment, at this time in America’s history, we need to make America great again.”

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