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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