On January 10, 2017, the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on his nomination began. The committee approved his nomination February 1 on a straight party-line vote, 11 to 9. The senate narrowly confirmed his nomination on February 8, 2017. He was sworn-in by Vice President Mike Pence on February 9. On May 7, 2018 he announced a new morally questionable policy that separated children from their mothers at the border.