The new acting attorney general is an Obama appointee from Virginia


The spotlight is hot on Dana Boente, the new acting attorney general of the United States.
Before Monday night, most people had never heard of Boente, 62, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. He was sworn in at 9 p.m. ET, a White House senior assistant press secretary told NBC News, just a few hours after former acting Attorney General Sally Yates told lawyers in the Department of Justice not to defend President Trump's executive order on immigration. Her firing was announced on Twitter by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, and the White House quickly went on a tear denouncing Yates, accusing her of being "very weak" on borders.
Boente has held various positions in the Department of Justice, and in 2012 was appointed U.S. Attorney in New Orleans. In 2013, he became acting U.S. Attorney in Alexandria, Virginia, and in 2015, former President Barack Obama appointed him to the job full-time. The White House released a statement it said was from Boente, which read: "I am honored to serve President Trump in this role until Sen. [Jeff] Sessions is confirmed. I will defend and enforce the laws of our country to ensure that our people and our nation are protected." Sessions, Trump's nominee for attorney general, is a conservative Republican senator from Alabama who has been accused of racism (allegations he says are baseless), was denied a federal judgeship in the 1980s, was one of Trump's earliest supporters during his campaign, and was the boss and mentor of Trump top policy adviser Stephen Miller and deputy chief of staff Rick Dearborn.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Why Rikers Island will no longer be under New York City's control
The Explainer A 'remediation manager' has been appointed to run the infamous jail
-
California may pull health care from eligible undocumented migrants
IN THE SPOTLIGHT After pushing for universal health care for all Californians regardless of immigration status, Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest budget proposal backs away from a key campaign promise
-
Is Apple breaking up with Google?
Today's Big Question Google is the default search engine in the Safari browser. The emergence of artificial intelligence could change that.
-
Trump vows to lift Syria sanctions
speed read The move would help the new government stabilize the country following years of civil war
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs