Acting US attorney general orders justice department not to defend Trump ban

Acting US attorney general Sally Yates, a holdover from the Obama administration, ordered the US justice department on Monday not to defend President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration in court.

“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,” Yates wrote in a letter to justice department lawyers. “At present, I am not convinced that the defence of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful.”

The decision is largely symbolic – Trump's nominee to be attorney general, Jeff Sessions, is likely to be confirmed soon – but it highlights the deep divide at the justice department and elsewhere in the government over Trump's order.

Trump has the authority to fire Yates but, as the top Senate-confirmed official at the justice department, she is the only one authorised to sign foreign surveillance warrants, an essential function at the department. “For as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defence of the executive order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so,” she wrote.