Acting Class

Hours after Acting Attorney General Sally Yates refused to defend the new immigration ban, she was fired by the Trump administration. Yates’ firing (coming just days before she would have been leaving) was not much of a surprise, but the tone of the dismissal was pretty amazing (to the extent that anything can still amaze us). The White House statement said Yates (a 27-year veteran of the Justice Department) “betrayed” the department. “Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.” The statement went on to explain that Yates has been relieved. (At this point, she might be the only American who is…)

+ The moves by Yates and the White House have added intrigue to the already contentious Jeff Sessions confirmation process. In an amazing twist, Sessions questioned Yates during her own confirmation hearing in 2015, at which time he made it clear that she should defy orders “if the views the president wants to execute are unlawful.”

+ US diplomats defied a White House warning and sent “a memo to the State Department’s leadership that criticizes President Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries. It is believed to be one of the most popularly supported statements of dissent in the department’s history.” Meanwhile Amazon and Expedia joined a suit brought by the State of Washington.

+ Not everyone is upset with the ban. According to the AP, the immigration order is playing well to Trump’s fans around nation. From the LA Times: For many in Arizona, it doesn’t get any better than this. From the NYT: In Ban on Migrants, Trump Supporters See a Promise Kept. And from WaPo: These Christian Syrians in Pa. back the travel ban. I found all four of these stories on the front pages of mainstream news sites. Don’t buy the cheap attempts to create a false equivalency between these sources and the propaganda sites spreading “alternative facts.”