Appeals Court Panel Appears Skeptical of Trump’s Travel Ban -<br />WASHINGTON — A Justice Department lawyer on Tuesday said courts should not second-guess President Trump’s targeted travel ban, drawing<br />skepticism from a three-judge federal appeals panel weighing the limits of executive authority in cases of national security.<br />He asked, at a minimum, for the court to reinstate a part of the ban against people<br />who have never been in the United States, calling this a “really key point.”<br />Reading from a brief, he conceded that those who could be allowed entry are “previously admitted aliens<br />who are temporarily abroad now or who wish to travel and return to the United States in the future.”<br />Judge Clifton said that the administration might be in a better position to narrow its executive order.<br />“Could the president simply say in the order, ‘We’re not going to let any Muslims in?’”<br />Mr. Flentje said the two states that have sued over Mr. Trump’s executive order, Washington<br />and Minnesota, would be powerless to challenge that scenario.<br />The case, State of Washington v. Trump, is in its earliest stages,<br />and the question for the appeals court on Tuesday was a narrow one: Should it stay Judge Robart’s temporary restraining order and reinstate the travel ban while the case proceeds?
