memeorandum: The Republican Fausts (David Brooks/New York Times)

11:45 AM ET, January 31, 2017

Top Items:

Trump Fires Acting Attorney General Who Defied Him — WASHINGTON — President Trump fired his acting attorney general on Monday night, removing her as the nation's top law enforcement officer after she defiantly refused to defend his executive order closing the nation's borders to refugees …

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Hill staffers secretly worked on Trump's immigration order — Senior staffers on the House Judiciary Committee helped Donald Trump's top aides draft the executive order curbing immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations, but the Republican committee chairman and party leadership were not informed …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Morning Consult, Political Insider blog, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Week, Instapundit, Daily Kos, RedState and Associated Press

Department of Homeland Security:

Statement from Secretary Kelly on the President's Appointment of Thomas D. Homan as Acting ICE Director — WASHINGTON - Today, the president appointed Mr. Thomas D. Homan acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). — Since 2013, Mr. Homan has served …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, CNN, Infowars, Hullabaloo, AOL, IJR and The Week

Mike Allen / Axios:

Under fire, Trump weighs new changes to refugee ban — Republican sources tell us that the Department of Homeland Security may issue “implementation guidance” that would allow for softening, and even policy changes, to President Trump's travel restrictions on migrants.

Discussion: Washington Post, alan.com, New York Times, BillMoyers.com, Political Wire, The Week, Talking Points Memo, The Hill and Raw Story

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

I Smell Fake News — Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama holdover, thrills her future employers by refusing to put the weight of the DoJ behind Trump's travel ban. Even the Times admits this gesture is somewhat symbolic since she is on her way out and Jeff Sessions is on his way in, but they include this odd detail:

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press and CBS Philly

Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
The Note: Who Will Be the Next SCOTUS Nominee?

Discussion: Associated Press

National Review: Why Yates Had to Go — It is a very simple proposition.

Los Angeles Times:
White House aides who wrote Trump's travel ban see it as just the start

Discussion: Mother Jones

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Democrats boycott confirmation hearings for Price and Mnuchin, blocking votes

Discussion: Political Insider blog

Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:
Trump has fired the acting attorney general who ordered Justice Dept. not to defend president's travel ban

Discussion: Bloomberg, Josh Blackman's Blog, Fox News, Salon, Shakesville, The Guardian, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Marshall Project, Al Jazeera English, Washington Free Beacon, Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog, Discourse.net, Daily Kos, TheBlaze, The Crime Report, Department of Homeland … and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:
Acting Attorney General Orders Justice Dept. Not to Defend Refugee Ban

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Political Insider blog, Refinery29, Politicus USA, Liberal Values, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Political Wire, AOL, ImmigrationProf Blog, Foreign Policy and Instapundit

Evan Perez / CNN:
First on CNN: Justice Dept. will not defend executive order on travel restrictions

Discussion: TheStreet.com, The Week, Breitbart, The Nation, ThinkProgress, New York Times, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, MichelleMalkin.com, TheBlaze, KTLA, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Hit & Run, Mother Jones, Daily Kos, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air and Politico

Louis Nelson / Politico: Rep. Gohmert calls Sally Yates a ‘political hack’

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Watch Sally Yates answer the question that got her fired by President Trump

Discussion: RedState and Washington Free Beacon

JGoldsmith / Lawfare:
Quick Thoughts On Sally Yates' Unpersuasive Statement

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, Politico, ABC News, Fortune, The Atlantic, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Just Security, Townhall.com, BuzzFeed, twitchy.com, RedState, Washington State and The Federalist

Ben Popper / The Verge:
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos: ‘we do not support’ Trump immigration order

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, The Daily Caller and Business Insider

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
Angry Republicans lash out at Trump for not consulting them on travel ban

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Politico

Matt Ford / The Atlantic:
An Acting Attorney General Fired for Defying Trump

Discussion: After eight long years …, The Guardian and CBS Pittsburgh

CNN:

Democrats consider backing off big battle over Trump's Supreme Court pick — Washington (CNN)Senate Democrats are weighing whether to avoid an all-out war to block President Donald Trump's upcoming Supreme Court pick, instead considering delaying that battle for a future nomination …

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air and Daily Kos

Scott Johnson / Power Line:
What's next? — You have to wonder what comes next …

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR and The Guardian

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Trump ridicules Democrats for equipment failure at rally

Discussion: Axios

Emily Jane Fox / Vanity Fair:

Can Jared and Ivanka Outrun Donald Trump's Scandals? — Less than a fortnight into his new post, Kushner appears unable to control his father-in-law—and is “furious” that his efforts are being undermined. — On Friday afternoon, Donald Trump descended upon the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes flanked …

Discussion: The Guardian, Axios, The Week, Balloon Juice and Raw Story

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Republican Fausts — Many Republican members of Congress have made a Faustian bargain with Donald Trump. They don't particularly admire him as a man, they don't trust him as an administrator, they don't agree with him on major issues, but they respect the grip he has on their voters …

Discussion: Vox, bradford-delong.com and Discourse.net

Mike Allen / Axios:

Team Hillary blames Obama more than Putin — The worst-kept secret inside Democratic circles is how bitter Hillary Clinton's team is at President Obama over her election loss. We have heard from numerous, anguished people in Clinton-land blaming Obama — more than Putin, FBI Director James Comey or …

Discussion: Heat Street, NBC News and The Daily Caller

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:

White House: Trump will enforce LGBTQ workplace protections — The White House said early Tuesday that President Trump will continue to enforce an Obama-era executive order protecting the rights of the LGBTQ community in the workplace. — “President Donald J. Trump is determined to protect …

Discussion: RedState

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Obama's Protections for L.G.B.T. Workers Will Remain Under Trump

Discussion: Vox, Washington Blade, PinkNews, LGBTQ Nation, The Gateway Pundit, Balloon Juice and Joe.My.God.

Associated Press:
The Latest: Trump to Sign Executive Order on Cybersecurity

Discussion: ABC News and Politico

Kate Brannen / Foreign Policy:

Steve Bannon Is Making Sure There's No White House Paper Trail, Says Intel Source — The Trump administration's chief strategist has already taken control of both policy and process on national security. — If there was any question about who is largely in charge of national security behind …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, Mother Jones, The Guardian and No More Mister Nice Blog

New York Times:
President Bannon? — Plenty of presidents have had prominent …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Hot Air, Washington Post, The Week, Business Insider, The Daily Caller and The Mahablog

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:

DeVos questionnaire appears to include passages from uncited sources — President Trump's nominee for education secretary, in written responses to questions from senators, appears to have used several sentences and phrases from other sources without attribution — including from a top Obama administration civil rights official.

Discussion: RedState, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Raw Story and Eschaton

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

How Obama will take on Trump — Barack Obama and his aides expected to take on President Donald Trump at some point, but they didn't think it would happen this quickly. — Now they're trying to find the right balance on issues that demand a response, and how to use Obama to deliver the selective pushback.

Discussion: Althouse

Annie Karni / Politico:
White House aide Epshteyn wrote controversial Holocaust memorial statement

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Times of Israel, Slate and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

New York Post:

Priest tells anti-Trump protesters to commit suicide — The pastor of a largely immigrant Catholic church in Queens has a suggestion for his anti-Trump parishioners: Go take a flying leap off the nearest building. — “Show your hate for Trump. Do it for social justice.

Discussion: Gothamist, The Daily Caller and Heat Street

Indivisible Kentucky:

Military Flying TRUMP FLAG in Louisville, KY — RESIST!!! — This video from yesterday morning captures the video of the United States Military flying a TRUMP flag in place of the United State flag. This is a fascist tactic. This is not acceptable. RESIST!!! — Larger Image click here.

Discussion: Courier-Journal, Guns.com and Talking Points Memo

NBC News:

SEAL, American Girl Die in First Trump-Era U.S. Military Raid — Two Americans killed in first military raid under President Trump 1:09 — In what an official said was the first military raid carried out under President Donald Trump, two Americans were killed in Yemen on Sunday …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and NBC News

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

The number of people affected by Trump's travel ban: About 90,000 — “Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning.” — “Remember we're talking about a universe of 109 people. There were 325,000 people that came into this country over a 24 hour period from another country.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Business Insider, STAT, Politicus USA and Chicago Tribune