Sally Yates

As acting attorney general, Yates directed Justice Department lawyers in January 2017 not to defend the first Trump travel-ban order unless she became satisfied that doing so was appropriate. She questioned its legality and the truthfulness of arguments needed to defend it; the White House disagreed and dismissed her. This was a dispute about the government's litigation position, not a court judgment invalidating the order. Her brief control of that position ended when the president replaced her.