"At your request I am submitting my resignation," Sessions wrote in a letter to White House chief of staff John Kelly. 
 
 Matthew Whitaker will take over as acting attorney general, the President said. 
 
 Whitaker is expected to take charge of the Russia investigation and special counsel Robert Mueller from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Whitaker has been openly critical of Mueller and the investigation and Democrats immediately called on him to recuse himself, just as Sessions had. 
 
 "We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States. He will serve our Country well ...We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date," Trump tweeted 
 
 JUST WATCHED Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired 01:52 
 
 The move is an abrupt end to what had been a tumultuous tenure for Sessions, originally one of Trump's earliest and most loyal surrogates as an Alabama Republican senator. He was a key figure in implementing Trump's vision for America and significantly rolled back Obama-era policies on immigration, police reform and civil rights. 
 
 Sessions was an enforcer of much of the Trump administration's hardline approach on immigration and regularly praised the President's tough words on crime. But even as he continued to carry out the Trump agenda, his relationship with the President remained strained and fraught for months due to the ongoing Mueller investigation. 
 
 Sessions received the request to resign from Kelly, not the President, on Wednesday morning, an administration official said. It is not clear whether Mueller was told ahead of time. 
 
 Sessions believed that Rosenstein has handled the investigation properly after it was dropped "right in his lap," according to a source familiar with Sessions' thinking. 
 
 "[Rosenstein is] a professional, he's tried to do the right thing and he's handled it as well as anybody could," the source said of Sessions' views on the matter. 
 
 However, the source said that Sessions himself has been frustrated that Mueller's investigation has not yet concluded, but DOJ officials have "tried to do the right thing every day and not be involved in arguing the case in the media." 
 
 In a statement, Whitaker said he will lead a "fair" department with high ethical standards. 
 
 "It is a true honor that the President has confidence in my ability to lead the Department of Justice as Acting Attorney General. I am committed to leading a fair Department with the highest ethical standards, that upholds the rule of law, and seeks justice for all Americans," he said. 
 
 Trump constantly criticized Sessions 
 
 Sessions' ouster came a day after the midterm elections saw Republicans hold onto control of the Senate -- which would confirm Trump's eventual permanent choice to head the Justice Department -- and just weeks after Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to multiple counts of campaign finance violations, tax fraud and bank fraud and Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight charges including tax fraud and bank fraud. 
 
 Sessions was aware that Cohen was facing bank fraud and tax violations but had been walled off from the campaign finance aspects of the investigation into Trump's former lawyer, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN. 
 
 Trump's distaste for Sessions was well known -- and publicly reinforced by the President himself on a regular basis -- after the attorney general recused himself from all matters related to the 2016 campaign early in Trump's term. 
 
 The President mocked Sessions in August as " scared stiff and Missing in Action ." Later the same month as Trump continued to rail against him, Sessions issued a statement firing back at Trump and declaring, "While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action." 
 
 Just days later, Trump knocked the Sessions-led Justice Department for indicting two Trump-supporting Republican congressmen ahead of the midterm elections. Both lawmakers won their re-election bids Tuesday. 
 
 But Sessions hung on, and although there was no formal reconciliation, the President allowed him to stay, even despite the unwillingness of White House spokespeople to publicly confirm, for days, that Trump had confidence in the attorney general. 
 
 In early August, Trump tweeted that Sessions "should stop" Mueller's investigation, raising questions as to whether the President was attempting to obstruct justice. Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani told CNN's Dana Bash that Trump was merely "expressing his opinion on his favorite medium." 
 
 Sessions, for his part, consistently maintained that his recusal decision was made in consultation with career ethics officials at the Justice Department and was in the works from the time he was sworn in. 
 
 Democrats demand continued independence for Mueller 
 
 Top Democrats immediately called for Mueller's investigation to be allowed to proceed. 
 
 "Given his previous comments advocating defunding and imposing limitations on the Mueller investigation, Mr. Whitaker should recuse himself from its oversight for the duration of his time as acting attorney general," Schumer said. 
 
 Former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder declared interference with the special counsel "a red line." 
 
 "Anyone who attempts to interfere with or obstruct the Mueller inquiry must be held accountable. This is a red line. We are a nation of laws and norms not subject to the self interested actions of one man," Holder tweeted. 
 
 Anyone who attempts to interfere with or obstruct the Mueller inquiry must be held accountable. This is a red line. We are a nation of laws and norms not subject to the self interested actions of one man. — Eric Holder (@EricHolder) November 7, 2018 
 
 New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler tweeted a vow for accountability. Nadler is poised to chair the House Judiciary Committee next year. 
 
 "Americans must have answers immediately as to the reasoning behind @realDonaldTrump removing Jeff Sessions from @TheJusticeDept. Why is the President making this change and who has authority over Special Counsel Mueller's investigation? We will be holding people accountable," Nadler tweeted. 
 
 Immigration bonded him with Trump from the start 
 
 Sessions' campaign loyalty to Trump earned him a plumb spot in the administration as attorney general, and Sessions' former aides and allies, including prominent Trump adviser Stephen Miller, spread throughout the administration in key posts across multiple agencies. 
 
 Under Sessions, the Justice Department has been aggressive in trying to cut off funds to and punish sanctuary cities -- though the courts have repeatedly admonished many of those efforts -- and was the primary agency that justified the ending of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, a program that protected young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children. ||||| Washington (CNN) As President Donald Trump continues to publicly criticize Jeff Sessions, one of the attorney general's former colleagues is promising that if Sessions is fired, there will be "holy hell to pay." 
 
 "I'm 100% behind Jeff Sessions," Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, told CNN's Manu Raju Thursday morning on Capitol Hill. "If Jeff Sessions is fired, there will be holy hell to pay." 
 
 The Republican lawmaker also slammed Trump for what he views as an effort to "marginalize and humiliate" Sessions, adding that his Senate colleagues are also displeased with the recent barrage of attacks. 
 
 "This effort to basically marginalize and humiliate the attorney general is not going over well in the Senate," Graham told CNN. "If you believe Jeff Sessions should be fired, use the power you have and accept the consequences." 
 
 "I hope it stops," he added. 
 
 Despite Trump's Twitter attacks, Sessions has no plans to resign , sources have told CNN. Instead, Sessions is moving ahead with his duties as attorney general, including routine meetings with administration officials at the White House on Wednesday. 
 
 Graham then announced that he plans on introducing legislation next week to ensure that a special counsel cannot be fired if they are investigating the President, unless there is judicial review of the firing. 
 
 "I'm going to try to come up with statutory language that would say, in the case of Bob Mueller and future special counsels, that if the attorney general fires that person who's been empaneled to investigate the President or their team, then judges will have to look and see if whether or not the reasons stated meet the statutory definitions," Graham told CNN. 
 
 The South Carolina senator noted that this legislation is intended "not just for Trump, but for any future president," adding that "we need a check and balance here." 
 
 So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2017 
 
 Trump has lambasted Sessions on Twitter over the past week, calling the attorney general "beleaguered" and slamming him for a "weak position" on former 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. 
 
 "Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are emails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!" the President tweeted Tuesday. 
 
 Trump also questioned why the attorney general and special counsel Robert Mueller were not looking into Clinton's deleted emails. 
 
 "So many people are asking why isn't the A.G. or Special (Counsel) looking at the many Hillary Clinton or Comey crimes. 33,000 e-mails deleted?" Trump tweeted over the weekend. 
 
 When asked whether he believes Donald Trump Jr. intentionally colluded with the Russians, Graham remains skeptical. Trump Jr., as well as then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner attended a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer who reportedly offered "compromising" information about Hillary Clinton. 
 
 "I think Don Jr. thought the meeting was okay. I'm not saying he intentionally violated the law. I really believe he thought it was something that all campaigns should do," Graham said. 
 
 But he cautioned that further investigations were necessary to determine the extent of the Trump team's contact with Russians. 
 
 "The reason this won't end any time soon is because how can you say with 100% certainty, given all the players here, there was never any more contact?" Graham told CNN. "The likelihood that the Russians just quit after one meeting, once the Trump campaign expressed desire to be helped, is pretty hard to believe but that may be the facts." 
 
 Attendees of the meeting have repeatedly said the June 2016 gathering was the only time they met. 
 
 "As it ended, my acquaintance apologized for taking up our time," Trump Jr. said in a statement obtained by CNN on July 9. "That was the end of it and there was no further contact or follow-up of any kind. My father knew nothing of the meeting or these events." ||||| poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201707/282/1155968404_5514374665001_5514118777001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Sessions: No plans to resign after Trump criticism The White House also says Trump 'has confidence' in the attorney general despite his displeasure at Sessions' recusal. 
 
 Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Thursday he plans to stay on in his current job, even after President Donald Trump harshly criticized him a day earlier for recusing himself from the ongoing Russia investigation. 
 
 “I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate,” Sessions said at a Department of Justice press conference. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 In response to a flurry of questions about Trump’s public attacks on the top Justice Department leaders in a New York Times interview, Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein took a “nothing to see here” approach, insisting that the president’s statements had not undermined their ability to do their jobs. 
 
 “We inside this Department of Justice will continue every single day to work hard to serve the national interest and to wholeheartedly join in the priorities of President Trump,” Sessions said. “I have the honor of serving as attorney general. It’s something that goes beyond any thought that I would have ever had for myself. We love this job. We love this department.” 
 
 Asked how he could continue without Trump’s support, Sessions did not appear to dispute that the president was displeased with him. 
 
 “We’re serving right now. What we’re doing today is the kind of work that we intend to continue,” the attorney general said, referring to an announcement the Justice Department made Thursday about the dismantling of massive ‘dark web’ sites said to be trading in drugs, child pornography, weapons and other contraband. “I’m totally confident that we can continue to run this office in an effective way.” 
 
 Trump told the Times in an interview Wednesday that he would not have hired Sessions if he’d known his attorney general would recuse himself from the Russia probe. “How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, ‘Thanks, Jeff, but I’m not going to take you,’” Trump told the paper. 
 
 However, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders insisted Thursday that Trump's criticism of Sessions did not mean the president has lost confidence in him. 
 
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 Trump "clearly has confidence in him or he would not be the attorney general," Sanders told reporters at a briefing. 
 
 During the interview Wednesday, Trump also suggested Rosenstein had made a mistake by naming a special counsel to take over the Russia investigation after Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey. The president also questioned the deputy attorney general’s political allegiance, saying: “There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any. So, he’s from Baltimore.” 
 
 Trump's assertion was off the mark. While Rosenstein worked in Baltimore for years as the U.S. Attorney for Maryland under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the veteran prosecutor lives in Bethesda and is originally from Philadelphia. 
 
 Asked by a reporter about the president's swat at him, Rosenstein offered no direct reaction, nor did he rise to the defense of Charm City. 
 
 “We are working here every day to advance the priorities of the president and the administration,” Rosenstein said. “I was proud to be here yesterday. I’m proud to be here today. I’ll be proud to be here tomorrow. And we are spending every minute working to advance the interests of the department.” 
 
 The deputy attorney general then said he wouldn’t take any further questions on topics other than the cybercrime take-down. 
 
 The Justice Department press conference was also attended by a third official Trump criticized during the interview, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. 
 
 “We have a director of the FBI, acting, who received $700,000, whose wife received $700,000 from, essentially, Hillary Clinton,” Trump complained, referring to campaign funds longtime Clinton adviser and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe transferred to a state senate campaign unsuccessfully waged by McCabe’s wife. 
 
 McCabe spoke at Thursday’s press conference, but he did not address the president’s attack. 
 
 Lawmakers seemed to have mixed feelings about Trump’s statements on Sessions. Some Democrats found them alarming. 
 
 Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said the interview has “shaken me” and said the nation was “on the doorsteps of a constitutional crisis.” 
 
 Trump’s comments are “shocking and raises the specter of obstruction of justice,” added Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “We have a responsibility to ensure the FBI is protected.” 
 
 Despite the president’s suggestion that he never should have appointed Sessions, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said he still has confidence in the attorney general. 
 
 “I voted for him and I haven’t seen anything that he’s done since then that would cause me to change my mind,” Grassley told reporters Thursday. “Now, we have some policy differences like on sentencing reform and stuff like that and maybe a lot of other policy differences. But I think he’s been appointed to be attorney general.” 
 
 Grassley also opined that it’s possible for an attorney general to be too close to the president: “I want to remind everybody, not just you guys, but I want to remind people of what [Attorney General Eric] Holder said one time, that he was a wingman for the president. The attorney general can’t be a wingman for a president. He’s got to be very independent and be a wingman for the people of the country.” 
 
 Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) seemed to back the president’s complaint about Sessions recusing himself. 
 
 “I agree with@realDonaldTrump, his Attorney General should not have recused himself over reported incidental contacts with Russian officials,” Paul wrote on Twitter. 
 
 However, Sessions’ meetings with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. were not the reason the attorney general gave reporters when he recused himself from the Russia probe in March. Instead, he said his high-profile role in the Trump campaign made in appropriate his participation in any investigations into investigations related to the 2016 presidential election. 
 
 Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
– Jeff Sessions is out as attorney general, report CNN and the AP. White House chief of staff John Kelly reportedly asked him to resign Wednesday, and Sessions' resignation letter was subsequently delivered to the White House. The speed of the move, coming so soon after polls closed, "suggested how eager Mr. Trump was for Mr. Sessions to depart," observes the Wall Street Journal. "At your request, I am submitting my resignation," Sessions wrote in a letter addressed to the president, which you can read here. "Since the day I was honored to be sworn in as Attorney General of the United States, I came to work at the Department of Justice every day determined to do my duty and serve my country. I have done so to the best of my ability, working to support the fundamental legal processes that are the foundation of justice." More: