31 Jan 2017 11:36 am
Does 45 not trust his own cabinet appointees and Congressional leadership?
At least three top national security officials - Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Rex Tillerson, who is awaiting confirmation to lead the State Department - have told associates they were not aware of details of the directive until around the time Trump signed it.
Leading intelligence officials were also left largely in the dark, according to U.S. officials.
Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that despite White House assurances that congressional leaders were consulted, he learned about the order from the media.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... 0-21-47-36
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, according to multiple sources involved in the process.
The work of the committee aides began during the transition period after the election and before Donald Trump was sworn in.
The staffers signed nondisclosure agreements, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/t ... der-234392
President Trump’s temporary ban on refugees and other foreigners has significantly deepened fissures in his already fragile relationship with congressional Republicans, as GOP leaders on Capitol Hill complained angrily Monday that they were not consulted before the order was issued.
At least a dozen key GOP lawmakers and aides said Trump’s order took them by surprise, even as the White House insisted that it collaborated with Congress.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpos ... 14d1644b34