Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing to be the U.S. Attorney General on Jan. 10, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik, Associated Press file)

Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein Senate and House committee appearances recap

The leaders of the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein each took a turn testifying in Congress on Tuesday.

Related: Rosenstein says: “From a legal and scientific perspective, marijuana is an unlawful drug.”

While Sessions’ testimony was scheduled for later in the day, Rosenstein appeared before the Senate appropriations committee in a morning session and later a House committee to discuss the Justice Department’s budget, and was faced with questions on law enforcement, the investigation into Russia’s influence on the 2016 election and questions on the Department’s stance on marijuana.

Rosenstein’s testimony is especially relevant given the revelation that Sessions has requested congressional leaders to undo federal medical marijuana protections that have been in place since 2014, specifically an amendment contained within the federal spending bill. The amendment, previously known as “Rohrabacher-Farr,” now co-sponsored by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, prevents the Justice Department from using funds to hinder the implementation of medical marijuana laws in U.S. states and territories.

Rosenstein appeared before the House appropriations committee at 2 p.m. EDT. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will appear before a Senate intelligence committee hearing at 2:30 p.m. EDT.

Sessions’ testimony:

This is the archive of the live blog of the day’s proceedings:

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