U.S.-entry bans get backing by Ryan

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday stood by President Donald Trump's executive order closing the nation's borders to refugees and people from some predominantly Muslim countries, offering only gentle criticism that "regrettably, the rollout was confusing."

"The president has a responsibility to the security of this country," Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters after renewing his support for the temporary entry ban during a closed meeting with GOP House members.

"Now, I think it's regrettable that there was some confusion on the rollout of this," Ryan added. "No one wanted to see people with green cards or special immigrant visas, like translators, get caught up in all of this."

He continued: "What is happening is something that we support, which is, we need to pause. And we need to make sure the vetting standards are up to snuff so that we can guarantee the safety and security of our country. That is what this does."

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GOP congressional leadership was left out of the drafting of the measure, but the White House insisted that it collaborated with Congress.

Ryan acknowledged he didn't find out the details until Friday as Trump was signing the order to shut off the Syrian refugee program indefinitely and halt all entries from seven Muslim-majority nations for 90 days.

Those close to Ryan say his chief goals are shepherding legislative priorities such as tax overhaul and repealing and replacing the health care law. He has grown accustomed to any broadsides that result from siding with Trump, they say.

"He knows that when you're talking about pieces of legislation that have to be signed by the president, it's helpful to have a good working relationship," said Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y.

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Another lawmaker, Rep. Dennis Ross of Florida, said the speaker's message was "'Look this shouldn't be a surprise to anybody, this is what we all campaigned on. ... We're looking at eight years of a legacy that we're essentially undoing.'"

Ryan stressed that he supported the nation's refugee resettlement program.

"We're a generous country," he said, citing a "very good conversation" with John Kelly, the homeland security secretary. "But we can be generous and watch our national security at the same time."

The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that it would allow 872 refugees to enter the United States this week.

These refugees were ready to travel and would face "undue hardship" if not able to do so, Kevin McAleenan, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said at a briefing. They will be processed with waivers through the end of the week, he said.

In the order signed by Trump last week, the temporary suspension of refugee entry to the country allows an exception for refugees "already in transit" and who would face "undue hardship" if denied admission.

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At the same Tuesday briefing, Kelly echoed remarks from Trump in saying that the order is not a "Muslim ban."

Kelly also said that the agency would comply with judicial orders regarding the travel ban, despite cases where lawyers were prevented from talking to detainees, directly contradicting a court order.

"We would not ignore a court order," Kelly said.

Kelly said during the briefing that as far as officials knew, no Customs official "knowingly" violated a court order.

Mending fences

Vice President Mike Pence used a regularly scheduled appearance at a weekly private Senate Republican lunch Tuesday to try to soothe some of the concerns being voiced around the Capitol, lawmakers said.

"He talked about the changes they're making to address some of the problems and then he talked about really working to coordinate and communicate, both himself and the White House in general," Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said.

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said the White House realizes it could burn bridges to Capitol Hill by failing to keep congressional Republicans in the loop.

"I've got to believe they realize that," he said. "What I don't know yet is whether it's a concern or not on their end," Corker said. "It may be that this is the way they want to roll right now. So, I think we'll see."

"They know that there's more than just concern from a few senators," Corker added of Pence's visit.

In interviews across the Capitol on Tuesday, Republicans in the House and Senate seemed inclined to give the Trump administration space, even as some stood by their criticism of the order.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., suggested that anyone surprised by Trump's actions in government had not been paying attention.

"I think if you read what he ran on, you see what's coming," he said. Asked if he was concerned about how little the administration had coordinated with lawmakers, Shelby said, "I'm not, yet."

Several House Republicans, meeting before Ryan's remarks, defended the order and the president's behavior in recent days, playing down any turmoil that had resulted.

"I don't sense any split in the Republicans' ranks," said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.

The chaos that Trump has wrought in Washington "was not a focus" of the meeting, Meadows said. "Any comments would have been minor in scope."

Trump's firing of Sally Yates as acting attorney general after she refused to defend his executive order drew praise.

"She was a political hack," said Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas. "I thought it was terrific."

Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said all administrations had "a little bit of chaos" in their first weeks.

"I think they're learning their lesson," he said. "I think they're going to realize that it behooves both parties to actually have a little bit more communication."

Lawmakers surprised

Some GOP lawmakers, including key senators, have complained that the administration kept GOP Hill leaders in the dark, sending them scrambling for information to help confused constituents. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told reporters Monday that his staff had been informed the State Department was barred from talking to Congress.

Asked about Rubio's remark, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement: "The Department remains in contact with Members of Congress who have reached out regarding the Executive Orders, and will continue to provide information and assistance as we are able."

At least a dozen key GOP lawmakers and aides said Trump's order took them by surprise.

Corker said Monday that he was not briefed before the order was signed.

"I know that they said they talked with some staffers on the Hill -- not in our office," said Corker.

Asked if he was consulted in the drafting of the order, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate said simply: "I wasn't."

Pressed on when he first learned about the order, Corker answered that it was Friday, after it was signed. "I guess one of you guys probably told me about it. Thank you for that," Corker told reporters.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said he could not confirm whether his staff was consulted, but he personally did not weigh in on the executive order as it was being drafted. Grassley's committee is responsible for overseeing the majority of immigration-related legislation in the Senate.

"I'm sure if they said they consulted us, they did," Grassley said. "But not me personally."

The statements from top-ranking Republicans in the House and Senate were at odds with comments earlier in the day from White House spokesman Sean Spicer.

"There were staff from appropriate committees and leadership offices that were involved," Spicer told reporters at a briefing. He refused to specify which if any committees were involved in the decision-making.

Politico reported Monday night that senior House Judiciary Committee staff members helped Trump's team draft the executive order without informing party leadership. A committee aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said in a statement following the report: "Like other congressional committees, some staff of the House Judiciary Committee were permitted to offer their policy expertise to the Trump transition team about immigration law. However, the Trump Administration is responsible for the final policy decisions contained in the executive order and its subsequent roll out and implementation."

Information for this article was contributed by Matt Flegenheimer, Thomas Kaplan and Emmarie Huetteman of The New York Times; by Erica Werner, Richard Lardner and Andrew Taylor of The Associated Press; and by Sean Sullivan, Kelsey Snell, Mike DeBonis and Mark Berman of The Washington Post.

A Section on 02/01/2017