On Friday, a federal judge in Washington state temporarily blocked enforcement of the ban nationwide, allowing travelers previously barred from entering the country to board U.S.-bound planes. Trump, as you might expect, was not happy with the decision, and he used Twitter to criticize the judge who made it. “The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!” he tweeted Saturday morning.

On Saturday night, lawyers for the Trump administration filed a notice to appeal the decision. On Sunday, a federal appeals court ruled against the government, saying the immigration ban will remain suspended for now. Monday and Tuesday are expected to see more action as lawyers for both sides file written arguments. After that, the court could schedule a hearing or rule whether the ban should remain suspended. And the developments won’t stop there: Remember, this is just one of the many legal battles springing up over Trump’s ban across the country.

AD

AD

In the meantime, Trump’s criticism of U.S. District Judge James L. Robart as a “so-called judge” continues to reverberate, drawing rebuke from some Republicans.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t understand language like that,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said Sunday. “We don’t have so-called judges, we don’t have so-called senators, we don’t have so-called presidents.”

TRUMP RAISES EYEBROWS WITH STRONG DEFENSE OF PUTIN

The other matter distancing Trump from would-be Republican allies is Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump mounted a strong defense of Putin over the weekend during an interview with Fox News, even attempting to neutralize host Bill O’Reilly’s description of Putin as a “killer.”

AD

“There are a lot of killers,” Trump said, seeming to equate the United States with Russia. “We’ve got a lot of killers. What do you think? Our country’s so innocent?”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) rejected any comparison in a separate interview Sunday, calling Putin a “former KGB agent” and a “thug.”

AD

“I do think America is exceptional. America is different,” McConnell said on CNN. “We don’t operate in any way the way the Russians do. I think there’s a clear distinction here that all Americans understand, and no, I would not have characterized it that way.”

As for Vice President Pence, he once again found himself veering from Trump on the question of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine. “We’re very troubled by the increased hostilities over the past week,” he said on ABC.

AD

PENCE TO LEAD VOTING INVESTIGATION, TRUMP SAYS

Furthermore, Trump still believes — without evidence — that 3 to 5 million illegal votes cost him the popular vote in his election battle against Hillary Clinton. Now, after promising an investigation, he announced who is going to run it.

“I’m going to set up a commission … headed by Vice President Mike Pence, and we’re going to look at it very, very carefully,” Trump told Fox News.

AD

Trump described the alleged problem like this: “When you see people that are registered in two states, that have voted in two states, when you see other things, when you see illegals, people that are not citizens, and they are on the registration rolls.”

AD

It’s not uncommon for voters to be on rolls in more than one state.

TRUMP STILL BENEFITING FROM BUSINESS, DOCUMENTS SHOW

Ethics experts urged Trump to set up a blind trust to protect himself against conflicts of interest while in office. And he has set up a trust, but he is much closer to it than those experts would like. According to newly released documents, Trump is the sole beneficiary of the trust created to separate him from his business. The trust is legally controlled by his oldest son and a longtime employee. Trump also retains the legal power to revoke the trust at any time, the documents show.

As our colleagues wrote, this is the kind of situation those ethics experts feared: “While Trump has promised he will observe a separation between his business and the presidency, he retains ownership of the business and will personally benefit if the business profits from decisions made by his government.”

AD

AD

WHERE THINGS STAND ON CAPITOL HILL

This week, Senate action on Trump’s nominees will be less of a frenzy and more a concentration of big developments.

Education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos is scheduled to receive a floor vote Tuesday, and she has no support to spare after Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) said they would oppose her confirmation. Democrats are hoping they can peel off one pro-DeVos vote and sink her nomination, but it’s unclear whom they could turn at this point. The White House says it’s confident DeVos will be confirmed.

Next up to receive floor votes — though none has been scheduled yet — are attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), health and human services secretary nominee Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) and treasury secretary nominee Steven T. Mnuchin.

Also on the calendar for this week is a Tuesday vote in the Committee on Veterans Affairs for VA secretary nominee David Shulkin.