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That is what an attorney general must be willing and able to do, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said of Sally Yates. | Getty

Democrats use the furor over Trump's dismissal of the acting attorney general to drag out committee vote for Sessions.

By Seung Min Kim

01/31/17 10:58 AM EST

Updated 01/31/17 02:07 PM EST

The already contentious battle over confirming Jeff Sessions as attorney general blew up further on Tuesday as Democrats used the surprise firing of Sally Yates as acting head of the Justice Department to argue that Sessions wont be sufficiently independent from President Donald Trump.

And Democrats successfully dragged out the Sessions debate long enough that his committee vote got kicked to Wednesday. His eventual confirmation is not in doubt given that he has support from all Republicans and at least one moderate Senate Democrat, but Democrats are using every lever they have to make his nomination fight as painful as possible.

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But for Democrats who, for weeks, have raised questions about Sessions ability to be an independent attorney general, Yates dramatic firing late Monday gave even more fodder on whether Sessions could be a check on a president who Democrats warn is already pushing the bounds of executive power.

That is what an attorney general must be willing and able to do, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said of Yates. I have no confidence Sen. Sessions will do that. Instead he has been the fiercest, most dedicated and most loyal promoter in Congress of the Trump agenda.

Despite requests from Republicans to keep their comments short, each Democrat on the Judiciary Committee launched into lengthy speeches criticizing Sessions' record and ties to Trump. The debate went on for so long that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said the panel vote would slip to Wednesday, as Democrats prepared to invoke a rarely-used rule that committees cannot meet beyond two hours after coming into session. The Senate came into session at noon on Tuesday.

The Sessions' committee vote will be Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Yates, a holdover from the Obama administration, was unceremoniously fired Monday after she announced that she would instruct Justice Department lawyers not to defend Trumps controversial executive order barring immigrants from some Muslim-majority nations.

The directive has already triggered mass protests and confusion at airports, as well as a stream of legal challenges and court losses for the Trump administration. The executive order is also sure to play a starring role in the confirmation fight over Trumps Supreme Court nominee, who will be unveiled Tuesday.

Republicans sought to inoculate Sessions from the controversy brewing over Trumps executive order, noting at the outset of the hearing Tuesday that the Alabama Republican Trumps chief supporter from the Senate during the campaign had no fingerprints in the controversial directives.

Its not clear to me why it would be a problem even if he had been involved, Grassley said. But the fact of the matter is he wasnt.

In written responses to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Sessions said neither he nor his current aides were involved in drafting the series of executive orders on immigration that were rolled out last week.

Leahy delivered a lengthy indictment of Trumps dismissal of Yates on Tuesday, slamming the president for firing an acting attorney general whom Leahy said was just doing her job.

His accusation that she betrayed the Department of Justice is dangerous, Leahy said. The attorney general is the peoples attorney. Not the presidents attorney. He or she does not wear two hats at once.

Leahy added: I have very serious doubts that Senator Sessions would be an independent attorney general.

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Sessions vote delayed as Democrats blast Yates firing - Politico

Sen. Kaine Joins Other Democrats Condemning Trump's Immigration Order NPR January 30, 20174:58 AM ET. Heard on Morning Edition. Congressional Democrats were broadly aligned in criticizing Trump's ban on Muslim refugees from entering the country. Rachel Martin talks to Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who said he was appalled by ...

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Sen. Kaine Joins Other Democrats Condemning Trump's Immigration Order - NPR

Democrats will seek to quickly pass legislation on Monday night to rescind President Trumps travel ban from certain countries a likely futile attempt theyre poised to use to justify prolonging consideration of several top Cabinet nominees.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday morning that he will be asking Senate Republicans to immediately consider legislation to rescind Trumps executive order signed Friday night that caused confusion at major airports nationwide and set off a wave of global reaction including a petition banning Trump from entering the United Kingdom and a limit on visas to Americans entering Iran.

[Trump defends executive order, says its not Muslim ban]

Criticizing Trumps order on Monday morning, Schumer told NBCs Today show, It was done in such a sloppy and careless way. ... It almost seems like back of the envelope.

Asked what Democrats planned to do in response, Schumer said he would call later Monday for the immediate consideration of a bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to rescind the order.

But that request is likely to be fruitless, given that Republicans would object to immediately consider such a measure and because there doesnt appear to be sufficient GOP support to outright reverse Trumps ban.

While a handful of Republican senators have expressed concerns, just seven John McCain (Ariz.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Susan Collins (Maine), Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Dean Heller (Nev.) have said theyre opposed to the ban. If those Republicans joined the chambers 48 Democrats in supporting the bill, thats still not enough to clear various procedural hurdles that require 60 votes to overcome.

[Whip count: Where Republicans stand on Trumps immigration order]

Even if Democrats fail to make their point on the Senate floor, they hope to galvanize growing public concern by holding a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday night. Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have organized a rally for 6 p.m., an event that aides say was hatched over the weekend in a series of conversations between House and Senate aides and some lawmakers.

Stephen Miller, a top domestic policy adviser to Trump, defended the administrations travel ban on Monday, describing it as efficient, orderly, enormously successful.

In a world in which hundreds of millions of people would like to make America their home, it only makes sense that we engage in some kind of selections process that prioritizes the entry of people who, as the order stated, dont hold bigotry, hatred or violence against any sexual orientation, against any race or against any particular class of people, Miller told CBS This Morning.

Asked about growing public concern with the policy change, Miller said: Anytime you do anything hugely successful that challenges a failed orthodoxy youre going to see protests.

(Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, unveiled her bill Sunday night. Several other Democratic senators, including Chris Murphy (Conn.), said theyre working on legislation to address Trumps measure, which prevents people from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States for 90 days without a waiver.

The president should not be able to take this type of action unilaterally, given the severity of the consequences, Feinstein said in a statement announcing her legislation. Its one thing to screen people before they come to this country. We already do that. Its quite another to say that individuals who are from a particular country, belong to a particular faith, or are refugees fleeing conflict are banned from the United States.

Schumer said he would also seek to delay a scheduled vote to confirm Rex Tillerson as Trumps secretary of state. He told NBC that senators deserve to hear Tillersons views on the travel ban before holding a vote. The Senate is set to hold a procedural vote on the confirmation on Monday night before holding a final up-or-down vote on Tuesday.

Murphy told The Washington Post on Sunday that Democrats must slow the consideration of all of Trumps remaining Cabinet nominees in light of Trumps travel ban.

We should take every ounce of time that were allowed on these nominees, to talk about the disaster that has been the first week of this administration, especially when it comes to foreign policy, he said.

But again, Democrats would probably ultimately fail to derail confirmation of Trumps nominees. While they can use procedural tactics to slow down the length of time it takes to confirm a pick, just 51 senators are needed to confirm a nominee. Republicans enjoy a 52-seat majority in the Senate.

On a call organized by MoveOn.org last night, American Civil Liberties Union political director Faiz Shakir encouraged activists to demand a Senate slowdown until Trumps executive orders on immigration and refugees were tacked back.

Weve got [Justice Department and Alabama Sen.] Jeff Sessions, who were told was involved somehow in the drafting of these executive orders, Shakir said. If they want to press this through, say: You dont get an attorney general until you overturn the Muslim ban.

Currently, Sessionss nomination is scheduled for a Tuesday morning vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee and is expected to pass with every Republican voting in favor and every Democrat voting against. In the full Senate, only one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.V.), has suggested that he will vote for Sessions, whose nomination is being scored as a key vote by the National Rifle Association.

Even as they showed up at airports this weekend to join protests or attempt to free travelers subject to the travel ban from detention, senators were challenged on their votes for Trump nominees. When Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) arrived at Dulles International Airport and delivered a speech about fighting this administration, a protester yelled, Will you block his nominees?

I will be blocking; I will be fighting against many of their nominees, including an attorney general nominee who I believed was involved in this tonight, Booker said.

That drew applause at the time, but Bookers use of the word many led to criticism online. And the demands for rougher Democratic tactics are not limited to the partys activist base. Shakir is a veteran of the office of former Senate Democratic leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.); Adam Jentleson, who was Reids former deputy chief of staff, argued in The Washington Post on Friday that Democrats should deny unanimous consent on Trump nominees, forcing Republicans to spend extra days debating them.

With 48 senators in their caucus, [Democrats] have the votes to block most bills, Jentleson wrote. But even when Democrats dont have the votes, they can force McConnell to spend time jumping through procedural hoops. This is the insight McConnell deployed against Reid to manufacture the appearance of gridlock, forcing him to use the cloture process more than 600 times.

Read more at PowerPost

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Democrats will attempt to rescind Trump's travel ban - Washington Post

A.D. White Statue in front of Goldwin Smith Hall

More than 200 concerned Democrats from the local area gathered at the Tompkins County Public Library to discuss next steps for the party in a Listening Meeting organized by the Tompkins County Democratic Party on Saturday.

I knew we were going to have a very good turnout because people were very concerned, said Irene Stein, chairperson of the Tompkins County Democratic Committee. We also had RSVPs from our Facebook page, so from them alone, the room would overflow. Im not surprised, since people are just so concerned.

Facilitated by Ithaca resident Kirby Edmonds, the meeting themed take action at the local level and become more involved called upon registered Democrats to share their thoughts on what they hope to see happen at the local level in 2017.

Ivy Greene 17, political director of Cornell Democrats, addressed her concerns about the health care system.

Greenes heartfelt speech about her fathers recent recovery in the hospital drew tears from many in the audience, as she spoke up for the importance of health care.

If not for my moms health care, my dad would have died, Greene said. I encourage you to speak to lifelong conservatives to find common ground with them.

Among other proposals, many democrats suggested reaching out to Republicans and supporters of President Trump as a way to heal and move past division.

Harry Stringer of Enfield, who said he registered as a Democrat for the first time in his life to vote for Senator Bernie Sanders, spoke up for inclusive means to one of the loudest applauses of the meeting.

Im a lifetime blue collar worker, contractor and union supporter, and I voted for Mrs. Jill Stein, Stringer said. We must reach out to people we dont agree with.

Linda Hoffman, chair of the Democratic Committee of Ithaca, urged democrats to recruit more volunteers. Hoffman referred to the Democrats Facebook page and website, which he said needed improvement.

We need to be in a collective mode not an individual one to get our voices heard, Hoffman said.

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Local Democrats Aim to Move Past Division to Make Their Voices Heard - Cornell University The Cornell Daily Sun

President Trump's nomination of Michigan billionaire Betsy DeVos to be secretary of education might be the most controversial of his Cabinet picks, and one that Democrats had hopes of blocking in the Senate. But sources in the Senate say that it doesn't look like the Democrats will be able to get enough votes to stop her.

DeVos is seen as a champion of school choice to supporters but as a radical who wants to privatize public education to critics, someone who once called America's public schools "a dead end." Even some school reformers who support education views that are similar to DeVos's have come out against her, questioning her stated desire to help traditional public schools improve.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions had a confirmation hearing for DeVos nearly two weeks ago, which only fueled the opposition to her because she displayed a lack of understanding of some key education issues, including what the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was (though she later sent a letter to a senator trying to clarify her position).

Senate offices have been swamped with calls, emails and letters; the National Education Association said more than a million emails opposing DeVos went to senators through a recent campaign. There are petitions and there have been protests, including Sunday on Capitol Hill. Hundreds of alumni and students from her alma mater, Calvin College, wrote a letter to legislators saying she is unqualified to be education secretary.

On Thursday night, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., told Rachel Maddow on her MSNBC show that no Democrat will vote to confirm her, and that Democrats were courting Republican votes. As he noted, the Democrats believe they have 48 solid votes; they need 51 to win, a pickup of three Republicans.

But Democratic and Republican sources in the Senate, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of negotiations about the vote, say that DeVos is expected to win approval by the education committee when it votes on Tuesday, and that she will prevail on the floor of the Senate whenever that vote happens.

The sources said that Republican Senate leaders have worked to keep Republicans in the fold to confirm DeVos. There were some Democratic hopes that some Republicans would switch sides on this one confirmation vote.

For example, during the confirmation hearing, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said that DeVos' vision of expanding school choice - charter schools and voucher/voucher-like programs that use public funds to pay for private schools - doesn't work well in rural areas where there aren't other options besides traditional public schools to provide choices other than traditional public schools.

Murkowski hasn't said how she will vote, nor has Maine's senior senator, Susan Collins, who is often said to be more "moderate" than other Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Murkowski is one of five Republican senators on the committee to whom DeVos and family members have given donations; the other four are Sens. Richard Burr, Tim Scott, Bill Cassidy and Todd Young.

The rest is here:
Can Democrats stop Betsy DeVos confirmation? Sources say unlikely - Newsday