Judges question Trump’s travel ban
SEATTLE — Federal judges on Monday peppered a lawyer for President Donald Trump with questions about whether the administration’s travel ban discriminates against Muslims and zeroed in on the president’s campaign statements, the second time in a week the rhetoric has faced judicial scrutiny.
Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, defending the travel ban, told the threejudge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the executive order should be reinstated because it falls well within the president’s authority.
“No one has ever attempted to set aside a law that is neutral on its face and neutral in its operation on the basis of largely campaign trail comments made by a private citizen running for office,” he said.
Further, Mr. Wall said the president had backed off the comments he made during the campaign, clarifying that “what he was talking about was Islamic terrorist groups and the countries that sponsor or shelter them.”
Neal Katyal, who represented Hawaii, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, expressed disbelief at that argument and said Mr. Trump had repeatedly spoken of a Muslim ban during the presidential campaign and after. “This is a repeated pattern of the president, ”Mr. Katyal said.
Mr. Trump views the 9th U.S. Circuit court as a hostile forum, frequently criticizing it on Twitter. But the judges hearing Monday’s arguments asked probing questions of both sides.
The 9th Circuit panel was hearing arguments over Hawaii’s lawsuit challenging the travel ban, which would suspend the nation’s refugee program and temporarily bar new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The judges will decide whether to uphold a Hawaii judge’s decision in March that
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blocked the ban.
Last week, judges on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments over whether to affirm a Maryland judge’s decision putting the ban on ice.
Mr. Wall’s insistence that the travel ban should be upheld because it is “neutral,” without reference to Islam, drew pointed questions from Judge Richard Paez. An executive order issued by President Franklin Roosevelt that led to the internment of 110,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II similarly was couched as a necessity for national security and made no reference to residents of Japanese heritage, Mr. Paez noted.
Gag rule expanding
The Trump administration said on Monday it would vastly expand the socalled global gag rule known as the “Mexico City policy” that withholds American aid from health organizations worldwide that provide or even discuss abortion in family planning. The ban now includes funding to foreign groups that fight AIDS and malaria.
The new policy could disrupt hundreds of clinics in Africa and around the world. It affects about $8.8 billion in global health funding, up from about $600 million during the administration of President George W. Bush.
The rules, issued by the State Department, mean that any foreign nongovernmental group that wants American money for any of its health activities — from AIDS treatment to malaria prevention to safe childbirth practices — must promise not to “promote abortion as a method of family planning.” Already, American taxpayer dollars cannot be used for abortion services abroad.
They are a follow-up to an executive order Mr. Trump signed in January, which froze funding to nongovernmental organizations if they offer abortion counseling or advocate the right to seek abortion. In April, the administration also froze funding to the United Nations agency that promotes family planning efforts.
FBI chief pick
While Democrats may trot out any number of demands to influence the selection of the next director of the FBI, Mr. Trump said Monday the selection process for a nominee for FBI director was “moving rapidly.”
South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy took himself out of consideration Monday to replace James Comey, whom Mr. Trump abruptly fired lastweek.
Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is set to brief senators Thursday afternoon on the firing of Mr. Comey.
Ambassador Gingrich?
Less than two weeks before a diplomatically delicate meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Mr. Trump has apparently settled on nominating Callista Gingrich, the wife of Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, as the United States ambassador to the Holy See, according to two people close to the president.
Barron goes to school
Barron Trump, the president’s fifth and youngest child, will attend St. Andrew’s Episcopal, a preparatory school in Potomac, Md., in the fall, affirming the first family’s plans to reunite in Washington after living apart since Mr. Trump took office.