As midterm election results captivated the nation Wednesday, news broke out of Washington that Jeff Sessions is out as the country's attorney general.

In a letter to the president, Sessions wrote "At your request I am submitting my resignation."

President Donald Trump has long expressed frustration with Sessions over his recusal from the Justice Department's Russia investigation. 

News of the Sessions firing came after a contentious news conference, in which President Trump talked up his party's midterm showing. 

While the move is not a total surprise, the fate of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe is alarming to Capitol Hill Democrats. 

"It would create a constitutional crisis if this were a prelude to ending or greatly limiting the Mueller investigation," says Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer.

The president bypassed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and tapped Matthew Whitaker, Sessions' chief of staff, as interim attorney general, who will now oversee the investigation.