| | | | Trump fires acting AG after rebuke | | Breaking tonight: President Donald Trump fired the acting attorney general, Sally Yates -- an Obama administration holdover while Jeff Sessions awaits confirmation -- after Yates ordered the Justice Department not to defend Trump's executive order banning travel from seven countries, which she believes is unlawful.
The White House said in a statement that Yates "has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States. ... Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration."
The new acting AG: Dana Boente, who was the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Trump weighed in on Yates' move with a tweet: | | This all comes as legal challenges to the travel ban pile up. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee today said he's suing, and Massachusetts is joining an ACLU lawsuit. The New York Times' Alex Burns has a roundup of the court battles.
A surprising comment from Rep. Pete Sessions, the Texas Republican and House Rules chairman, who said this of Yates' move and his observations on Trump's executive order. He said Yates' decision was similar "to an evaluation that we made and that was it did not appear to be specific in nature. It did not appear to maintain the continuity of an effort that could be understood and followed through on. ... It did not look as complete and succinct as what I think I would've wanted."
Why would a Republican give Yates cover? Well ... | | Hill Republicans are frustrated with Trump's White House | | Republican lawmakers say they expected, but aren't getting, more communication from the White House. They believed President Donald Trump would stay and answer their questions at their Philadelphia retreat last week -- but he did not. Now many say they got no heads-up about the travel ban. "The next time they attempt to do something that's far-reaching like this, there will be a lot more communication," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, adding that the ban "created a lot of havoc around the world."
You can't make it up: Politico's Rachael Bade, Jake Sherman and Josh Dawsey dropped a big story tonight: Trump's team quietly worked with House Judiciary Committee aides on the executive order -- without telling the Republican committee chairman or House leadership.
Nightcap note: This explains why Sean Spicer claimed the White House worked with congressional aides on the order -- and why House Republicans were so baffled by that claim.
Can't get the time of day? CNN's Tom LoBianco emails: Sen. Marco Rubio said his staff called State Department staff Monday to demand answers on the travel ban. And State Department staff told his staff they were instructed not to answer questions, according to Rubio. | | Obama comes off the sidelines, criticizes Trump | | Democrats are rejuvenated by an activist movement the party hasn't seen in years -- as tonight's rally outside the Supreme Court showed. But the party is also leaderless and, as The New York Times' Jonathan Martin writes, struggling to keep up with the groundswell. It has many pining for former President Barack Obama. And today, they got what they wanted -- with Obama's first (small) step into politics since leaving office 11 days ago. "The President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion," Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement.
Let's talk down-ballot.
Democrats in Trump-won districts aren't hesitating to hit the White House over the travel ban, The Washington Post's Dave Weigel notes. And today, this Stuart Rothenberg column arguing that Trump's missteps have put the House in play is raising eyebrows on the right. ... So will voters punish all Republicans for Trump's actions? The DCCC said in a memo today it will target 23 districts won by Hillary Clinton plus 10 where Clinton lost by 4 points or less. The NRCC swung back, calling the Democratic memo a "pipe dream" and noting that the 23 Republicans in districts Clinton won bested their Democratic foes by an average of 14%. | | "I woke up this morning as an alternative fact." -- David Axelrod, the top Barack Obama strategist, refuting the Trump administration's claim that Steve Bannon's role on the National Security Council matches Axelrod's. | | | | As protests continued, President Donald Trump defended his travel ban this morning in a series of tweets -- including one that mocked Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer's emotional denunciation of the ban as "mean-spirited and un-American." | | | Then Trump noted a reality: He campaigned on doing exactly this. | | Trump's Supreme Court pick coming at 8 p.m. Tuesday | | President Donald Trump plans to announce his Supreme Court pick from the White House at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday. It will be someone from the list of candidates he made public during the campaign, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said today.
The real question here: Will Democrats filibuster Trump's nominee -- no matter who it is? The left absolutely wants them to, and is threatening Democrats who don't fight Trump tooth and nail with primaries.
There's internal strife. "This is a stolen seat. This is the first time a Senate majority has stolen a seat," Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, told Politico's Burgess Everett today. "We will use every lever in our power to stop this." However, many other Democrats today told CNN they want to wait and see who Trump nominates. Their fear: Republicans could gut the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees.
What Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is saying, on the Senate floor today: "The Senate should respect the result of the election and treat this newly elected President's nominee in the same way the nominees of other newly elected presidents have been treated -- and that is with careful consideration followed by an up-or-down vote."
What McConnell didn't say -- but Democrats are: The GOP blocked former President Barack Obama from filling this very vacancy, saying they wanted to wait nearly a year for a new president to take office. Democrats never agreed to that delay. And now some -- including Missouri's Jason Kander, who lost his Senate race in 2016 but is still viewed as a rising star -- are trolling Republicans over it: | | 4 things you might have missed today | | 1. Bannon's role on NSC under fire: President-elect Donald Trump came under criticism for ousting the country's most senior intelligence and military officials on the National Security Council -- and installing his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon. More on that from CNN's Nicole Gaouette.
2. A missing bobcat in Washington: For real. The Smithsonian's National Zoo reported a female bobcat named Ollie escaped her enclosure on Monday. If you see the bobcat, don't approach the it, says the National Zoo, imparting a real-life lesson.
3. Trump's outside group launches: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani will co-chair a newly formed outside group that will promote Trump's agenda, Politico's Alex Isenstadt reports.
4. Are government agencies being spied on? A new government report revealed that US law-enforcement agencies are at risk of being spied on and hacked because some of their field offices are located in foreign-owned buildings without the agencies' knowledge. More from CNN's Sophie Tatum and Pamela Brown. | | | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the White House on February 15. ... Ivanka Trump's Instagram post caused a stir during outcry over the immigration ban. ... Former President George H.W. Bush was released from the hospital. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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