Nearly five months after his nomination was announced, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department's Civil Division will finally have a hearing before the Senate this week.

Joseph “Jody” Hunt will testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Hunt, a career DOJ attorney, served as Attorney General Jeff Sessions' chief of staff until the White House announced his nomination in September.

If confirmed, Hunt will oversee the largest litigating division at the DOJ, consisting of more than 1,100 lawyers and several branches. The Civil Division is currently overseen by former Jones Day partner Chad Readler, the acting assistant attorney general for the division.

Here's what to know about Hunt before his hearing:

Russia questions: Having worked as Sessions' chief of staff between January and September of last year, Hunt has been by the AG's side through a tumultuous period at the DOJ marked by controversy related to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. When Sessions recused himself from the investigation last year, and any others involving the Trump campaign, it was Hunt who wrote a memo to senior DOJ staff explaining the decision.

Later, following his firing in May, former FBI Director James Comey testified before Congress that he warned Sessions during a February 2017 meeting that he did not want to be left alone with the president, and that the attorney general did not reply to his concerns.

Sessions remembered the exchange differently, telling Congress in his own testimony that the two discussed “rules” about private discussions with the president. He also told lawmakers Hunt was in the room.

“I do recall—my chief of staff was with me, and we recall—that I did affirm the long-standing written policies of the Department of Justice concerning communications with the White House,” Sessions told lawmakers.

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Career DOJ-er: Hunt has worked at the DOJ for more than 15 years. He began as a trial attorney in the Federal Programs Branch, and served as counsel to Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson from 2001 to 2002. He became a director in the Federal Programs Branch in 2002, a position he held until becoming Sessions' chief of staff.

As the section responsible for defending lawsuits brought against federal agencies and administration policies, Federal Programs handles some of the DOJ's most controversial cases.

Former DOJ lawyers who know and worked with Hunt said his nomination is likely good for department morale. Peter Keisler, a partner at Sidley Austin and former acting attorney general, who served for five years as head of the Civil Division, said Hunt is uniquely positioned in that he has close relationships with both career attorneys and political leadership at the DOJ.

“Most new assistant attorneys general have to work overtime to develop that respect and confidence from the career ranks and political ranks,” he said. “Jody comes to the job having already earned both.”

John O'Quinn, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis who worked with Hunt at the DOJ, said he is “high-energy” and “very professional.” He also said Hunt's work, particularly in Federal Programs, will have thoroughly prepared him to lead the division.

“Someone who has been on the front lines is really invaluable in terms of experience and seasoning,” O'Quinn said.

“Very much an institutionalist”: Several lawyers said Hunt is not afraid to advocate for what's best for the department, regardless of who's in the White House.

Jenner & Block partner Ian Gershengorn, a former acting solicitor general who also served as  deputy assistant attorney general of the Federal Programs Branch, said Hunt was always “very much an institutionalist,” and focused on the long-term interests of the DOJ.

“The [other] thing that always was foremost in his mind was making a full-throated defense of even policies and statutes that the administration might disagree with, emphatic on the notion that in the Civil Division, that you defend the presidency, not the particular president,” Gershengorn said.  

Gershengorn added Hunt often emphasized the DOJ's “credibility,” and the importance of not easily or lightly changing the department's legal positions. Under Sessions, the DOJ has changed positions on several issues, including voting rights and labor issues.

Big Law background: Prior to joining the DOJ, Hunt spent roughly a decade in private practice. He worked at White & Case in Washington, D.C., for five years starting in 1990, and then moved to Atlanta to work at King & Spalding. He stayed there until he joined the DOJ in 1999.

Hunt also clerked for U.S. District Judge James Hancock of the Northern District of Alabama after his graduation from law school at Columbia School of Law in 1989, and taught at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He also has a master's in international affairs from Florida State University. He earned his undergraduate degree at Samford University.