Donald Trump's candidate for attorney general on Tuesday said waterboarding is torture and illegal.
Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, the nominee, responded to questions at a Senate confirmation hearing, the first in a series this week for nominees to serve in the Cabinet once Trump enters the White House on Jan. 20.
During the 2016 election campaign Trump said waterboarding was an effective interrogation technique and vowed to bring it back and "a hell of a lot worse."
President George W. Bush's administration came under fire when intelligence agencies used the method which simulates the sensation of drowning. More recently Trump has said retired Marine Corps General James Mattis, his nominee for secretary of defense, had persuasively argued against it.
Asked if waterboarding constituted torture, Sessions said Congress has since passed legislation that makes it "absolutely improper and illegal to use waterboarding or any other form of torture."
His stance that the law clearly bans waterboarding could pose a problem for Trump if he tries to reinstate the practice.