Trump Fires Acting U.S. Attorney General Who Refused To Defend Immigration Order

Sally Yates, an Obama appointee serving as acting U.S. attorney general, was fired Monday night after she instructed Department of Justice employees not to defend President Trump's executive order on immigration and said she is not convinced the order is legal.

A White House statement said Yates "betrayed the Department of Justice" after saying in a letter to department employees that she would not defend the order in court.

She will be replaced by Dana Boente, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, until Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions is confirmed, the White House said. Sessions was scheduled to face a confirmation vote before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday morning.

Boente moved swiftly after his swearing-in to direct Justice Department employees to defend Trump's order.

Yates, the highest ranking Senate-confirmed Justice employee, was the only department employee authorized to sign foreign surveillance warrants, according to The New York Times, and had been kept on during the transition to do just that. The White House, though, believes that Boente can sign those warrants too because he was confirmed by the Senate to be a U.S. attorney, the Times reported.

"Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration," the White House statement said.

"It is time to get serious about protecting our country. Calling for tougher vetting for individuals traveling from seven dangerous places is not extreme. It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country."

Yates' decision had left the federal government with no defense in the lawsuits it faces related to the order. While federal judges have issued rulings on parts of the order — namely, that green card holders cannot be detained or sent back to their home countries — the order itself still stands and was being enforced Monday.

"My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts," Yates wrote in her letter. "In addition, I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right.

"At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the Executive Order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the Executive Order is lawful.

"Consequently, for as long as I am the Acting Attorney General, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the Executive Order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so."

The decision to fire Yates reminded some political observers of the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre" in 1973. On Oct. 20 of that year, President Richard Nixon fired his attorney general and deputy attorney general after they declined to follow his orders to fire the special prosecutor investigating the Watergate break-in.

Those attorneys general, though, were appointed by Nixon. Yates was appointed by and served as deputy attorney general under President Obama.

President Trump had tweeted shortly after Yates' letter was made public that Democrats are delaying his Cabinet picks for "purely political reasons," leaving him with an "Obama A.G."