Cotton calls Booker testimony 'disgraceful breach of custom'

Sen. Tom CottonTom CottonNervous GOP senators rooting for Ryan to fail Defense secretary pulls deputy's nomination: report Medicaid rollback looms for GOP senators in 2020 MORE (R-Ark.) on Tuesday hit Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) for his plans to testify against Sen. Jeff SessionsJeff SessionsThe war on drugs is a horrible metaphor for a nation’s response to addiction GOP senator asks IRS to review enforcement of limit on church political activity Chelsea Clinton plans new children's book: 'She Persisted' MORE (R-Ala.) during his confirmation hearings as President-elect Donald TrumpDonald TrumpIf Trump kills public broadcasting, America loses Trump to oldest living Pearl Harbor vet: 'Keep going!’ GOP rep: Coast Guard should be under Pentagon, not DHS MORE's pick for attorney general.

"I’m very disappointed that Senator Booker has chosen to start his 2020 presidential campaign by testifying against Senator Sessions," Cotton wrote Tuesday in a Facebook post.

"This disgraceful breach of custom is especially surprising since Senator Booker just last year said he was 'honored to have partnered with Senator Sessions' on a resolution honoring civil-rights marchers."

Cotton said Booker feels "compelled" to speak out against the Alabama Republican because Sessions wants to "keep criminals behind bars, drugs off our streets, and amnesty from becoming law."

"He’s welcome to oppose these common-sense policies and vote against Senator Sessions’s nomination, but what is so unique about those views to require his extraordinary testimony? Nothing," Cotton wrote.

"This hearing simply offers a platform for his presidential aspirations. Senator Booker is better than that, and he knows better."

Booker said Monday night he doesn't "take the decision lightly" to speak out against his fellow senator, but he thinks Sessions's positions on myriad of issues are "deeply troubling."

"Senator Sessions’ decades-long record is concerning in a number of ways," Booker said.

"The Attorney General is responsible for ensuring the fair administration of justice, and based on his record, I lack confidence that Senator Sessions can honor this duty." 

Booker will be the first sitting senator to testify against a colleague during a Cabinet confirmation hearing.