Donald Trump’s travel ban may be headed to high court after new rebuff

New York/Washington: The White House vowed to challenge an appeals court ruling that slammed a travel ban against six Muslim majority nations as being “steeped in animus,” putting President Trump on track for his first Supreme Court showdown.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the administration “strongly disagrees” with the court’s refusal Thursday to lift a nationwide block on Trump’s travel ban, in a stinging 79-page ruling that said the directive “drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination.”

The ruling blocks Trump’s “efforts to strengthen this country’s national security,” Sessions said. “The president is not required to admit people from countries that sponsor or shelter terrorism, until he determines that they can be properly vetted and do not pose a security risk.”

The administration did not say when it would appeal. The government could ask the Supreme Court to take emergency action to let the ban take effect while the litigation plays out. The administration so far has eschewed taking that step during the months-long legal fight over the travel ban.

Trump’s position was strengthened last month when the Senate confirmed his Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. Reinstating the ban would require the votes of five of the nine justices, with Justice Anthony Kennedy as the likely swing vote. Bloomberg