President Donald Trump on Monday fired Sally Yates, the acting attorney general and a Democratic appointee, after she refused to defend in court his controversial refugee and immigration ban. Yates’ abrupt decision reflected the dissent over the order, with administration officials moving to distance themselves from the policy. A senior U.S. official said Mattis, along with Joint Chiefs Chairman Joseph Dunford, was aware of the general concept of Trump’s order but not the details. U.S. officials and others with knowledge of the Cabinet’s thinking insisted on anonymity in order to disclose the officials’ private views. Trump’s order pauses America’s entire refugee program for four months and indefinitely bans all those from war-ravaged Syria.

Source: thestar January 31, 2017 02:45 UTC