Defiant to the bitter end, on Monday Democrats in the House brought forth a resolution lauding former acting Attorney General Sally Yates for refusing to defend President Trump’s executive order restricting immigration. Trump fired Yates for telling the DOJ not to defend Trump’s order. The White House stated Yates “betrayed the Department of Justice” and was “weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.”
Rep. Yvette Clarke’s (D-N.Y.) bill, House Resolution 94, states:
Whereas Sally Quillian Yates has served the United States honorably as United States Assistant Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, United States Deputy Attorney General, and United States Acting Attorney General;
Whereas in these capacities, and in private practice, Ms. Yates has maintained the highest standards of professional ethics;
Whereas by refusing to defend the discriminatory Executive Order 13769 (82 Fed. Reg. 8977; relating to “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States”), Ms. Yates faithfully upheld the Constitution and defended American values of tolerance, compassion, and respect for diversity;
Whereas the actions of Ms. Yates fulfill her commitment to the Senate Judiciary Committee to refuse to carry out orders that are unfaithful to the Constitution;
Whereas by standing up to power for the most at risk in our society, Ms. Yates demonstrated moral courage at the highest level; and
Whereas Ms. Yates will stand as a role model of professional ethics for men and women across the Nation for years to come: Now, therefore, be it that the House of Representatives commends Sally Quillian Yates for refusing to enforce Donald Trump’s discriminatory Executive Order 13769.
Yates temporarily took over the DOJ after former Attorney General Loretta Lynch stepped down. After Yates was fired, Trump appointed Dana Boente, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to replace her.
The Senate may consider Senator Jeff Sessions’s nomination for the post of Attorney General this week.