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Senate Democrats renewed an assault on Donald Trumps pick for attorney general, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, questioning his independence after the president fired the acting attorney general for refusing to enforce his executive order on immigration.

Photographer: Pete Marovich/Bloomberg

Invoking procedural rules, Democrats succeeded in delaying Judiciary Committee action on the Sessions nomination until Wednesday after intense exchanges with Republicans at a hearing Tuesday. His loyalty to Trump was a top target during debate by the panel, which is expected to vote on party lines to recommend his confirmation by the full Senate.

It is very difficult to reconcile, for me, the independence and objectivity necessary to be attorney general with the partisanship Sessions has represented, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said. "Will he support and defend these broad and disruptive executive orders? Will he carry out and enforce the presidents actions that may very well violate the Constitution?"

"Its not difficult to assess that he will," Feinstein said.

Anger over the executive order emboldened Democrats to rebel on other Trump nominations Tuesday as well. They forced a delay of scheduled committee votes on the nominations of Steven Mnuchin to run the Treasury and Representative Tom Price to head Health and Human Services by staging a boycott.

Read about Trumps refugee ban and the legal landscape -- QuickTake Q&A

In opening the Judiciary Committee hearing, Chairman Chuck Grassley said Sessions understands the Justice Department better than any nominee in recent history and that hell fulfill the law fully, faithfully and independently, even when he disagrees with it.

The partisan anger fueled by Trumps decision to sign the executive orderbanning entry to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries and then fire acting Attorney General Sally Yates Monday night for denouncing it all but guarantees a titanic struggle over an even bigger job, Supreme Court justice, when Trump announces his pick Tuesday evening.

Photographer: Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

While Senate Republicans probably will clear Sessions, a fellow senator, Democrats said they wanted more time to question him -- particularly about whether hed have the independence to stand up to Trump if he disagreed with the president. Democrats say thats what Yates did, and it cost her her job.

"Many people have doubts about whether Jeff Sessions can be that person, and the full Senate and the American people should at the very least know exactly how independent he plans to be before voting on him," the Senates top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said in a statement Monday night.

The anger over Trumps handling of Yates could intensify Democratic opposition to other Trump nominees.Onlyfour have been confirmed so far, with more than a dozen nominations still awaiting votes.

Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to demand that Congress quickly approve his nominees. When will the Democrats give us our Attorney General and rest of Cabinet! They should be ashamed of themselves! No wonder D.C. doesnt work! Trump said.

Democrats have emphasized that the Trump aide who reportedly helped write the executive order banning some immigrant travel, Stephen Miller, was previously a longtime aide to Sessions.

Another complication is Trumps impending announcement of his choice to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court. Trumps order, which Democrats say has raised questions about whether the judicial branch can serve as an effective check on executive power, is certain to complicate that confirmation battle as well.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hasnt said when he plans to bring the Sessions nomination to the floor. The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Elaine Chao to be transportation secretary, and is expected to vote no later than Wednesday on the nomination of former Exxon Mobil chief Rex Tillerson to run the State Department.

If McConnell moves to bring up Sessions after Tillerson, Democrats could employ some delaying tactics. Sessions could still receive a vote this week, but that would probably require Senate Republicans to keep the chamber in session into the weekend.

Debate over Sessions on the Senate floor promises to be emotionally charged, with Democrats expressing outrage over Trumps immigration order and his decision to fire Yates, an Obama administration holdover, after she said Justice Department lawyers wouldnt defend in court the White House executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Democratic leaders staged a protest in front of the Supreme Court Monday night, and held the Senate floor well into the night to criticize Trumps order.

We will not let this evil order make us less American, Schumer told protesters. We will fight it with everything we have and we will win this fight.

To actually block Sessions, Democrats need to win over the votes of at least three Republicans.

Republican senators to watch include John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona, who have been particularly critical of the travel ban. McCain expressed his anger Monday over the order, saying it could block Iraqi pilots from coming to Arizona for training on F-16s so they can fly missions back home that protect U.S. soldiers helping to fight the Islamic State. A third Republican whos been critical of Trump, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, is on the Judiciary panel and said he supports Sessions.

While the entry ban dominated the debate over Sessions, Democrats questioned how the conservative senator from Alabama would act on issues from abortion to voting rights.

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Sessions provided written answers late Monday to questions from Judiciary Committee member Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat. He said neither he nor any of his current staff had a role in formulating or drafting Trumps executive orders.

"During the campaign, President Trump sought my and my staffs input on a number of matters on which I have taken very public positions as a senator; however, it would be impossible for me to know the degree to which that input was relied upon in formulating or drafting the executive orders in question," Sessions said.

Sessionss answer isnt likely to satisfy to Democrats, who say the Yates firing only reinforces the need for an attorney general who is willing to stand up to potential abuses of power.

President Trump has commenced a course of conduct that is Nixonian in its design and execution and threatens the long-vaunted independence of the Justice Department," Representative John Conyers Jr., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said Monday night in a statement. "If dedicated government officials deem his directives to be unlawful and unconstitutional, he will simply fire them as if government is a reality show."

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Democrats' Assault Stalls Sessions Vote After Trump Fires Yates - Bloomberg