The Trump administration said it had "relieved" Yates — who was deputy attorney general in the administration of President Barack Obama and stayed on as acting attorney general pending the confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama — and named Dana Boente, 63, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to serve in the meantime.
The Justice Department said shortly after midnight ET that Boente had rescinded Yates' directive.
Boente was sworn in at 9 p.m. ET, said Michael Short, a senior assistant White House press secretary — a swift reaction to Yates' memo to Justice Department lawyers earlier in the day, ordering them not to go to court to defend sharp restrictions Trump ordered last week on immigration from seven majority Muslim countries.
Yates "has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States," the White House said in a statement, adding: "Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration."
-NBC