News

Actions

Spotlight on Attorney General Sally Yates testimony, travel ban appeals court hearing

Spotlight on Attorney General Sally Yates testimony, travel ban appeals court hearing
Posted at 10:44 AM, May 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-08 12:21:22-04

What's happening in the political world:

Yates to testify before Senate subcommittee on Russia
-- Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates is set to testify today before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, which is investigating possible interference by Russia in the 2016 presidential election.

Yates, who was fired from her role earlier this year, said she had warned the Trump administration about Michael Flynn's interactions with a Russian diplomat weeks before Flynn was fired as President Trump's national security adviser.

Hours before Yates was scheduled to testify, the president tweeted:

In January, Yates was fired after refusing to enforce Trump's travel order.

Read more


Federal appeals court to weigh travel ban
-- The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia will look at a ruling from a judge that blocked President Trump's travel order.

Nearly two months ago, a federal judge in Maryland imposed a nationwide halt to the core portion of the president's revised executive order that sought to bar foreign nationals from six majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days. The judge concluded, largely drawing on Trump's past statements, that the travel ban likely violates the Constitution by disfavoring Muslims, and the Justice Department appealed that decision in March.

Read more


Obama urges Congress to battle against ACA repeal
-- In his first public remarks following the House vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama called on lawmakers to "champion the vulnerable and the sick and the infirm."

Obama made the remarks after receiving the 2017 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award during an event in Boston Sunday.

The former president said he hopes Congress understands that "courage does not always mean doing what is politically expedient, but what they believe deep in their hearts is right."

Last Thursday, the House approved the GOP-backed American Health Care Act, sending the bill to the Senate.

Read more


CNN contributed to this report