Trump dismissed Yates for insubordination on January 30, after she instructed the Justice Department not to make legal arguments defending Executive Order 13769, which temporarily banned the admission of refugees and barred travel from certain Muslim-majority countries (later to include North Korea and Venezuela) on the grounds that terrorists were using the U.S. refugee resettlement program to enter the country.

[11] Yates went to Dunwoody High School[12] and attended the University of Georgia, receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism in 1982.

In 1986, she earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Georgia School of Law, graduating magna cum laude.

[16] Early in her career at the Department of Justice, Yates prosecuted a variety of types of cases including white-collar fraud and political corruption.

[16] On May 13, 2015, the United States Senate voted 84–12 (4 not voting) to confirm Yates as Deputy Attorney General of the United States, the second-highest-ranking position in the Justice Department;[20][21] during her confirmation hearing, when questioned by Senator Jeff Sessions if she would disobey a president's unlawful orders, she responded that she would have an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution, and to give independent legal advice to the president.

[28] In subsequent days of the new presidency, Yates warned the Trump administration that National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had not been truthful about his contacts with Russia related to sanctions and that he was vulnerable to blackmail by Russian intelligence.

[30][31] On January 27, 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which restricted travel to the United States from seven Muslim majority countries, among other provisions.

[34] In a letter to DOJ staff, Yates wrote: At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities of the Department of Justice, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful...I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution's solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right.

"[36] Upon announcing her decision not to defend the order, Yates was immediately dismissed by the Trump administration via hand-delivered letter, and replaced with Dana Boente, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

[5][41][42][43] Some legal experts argued that Yates should have resigned, rather than directing the Justice Department not to defend the executive order, which Cato Institute scholar Josh Blackman called "a textbook case of insubordination".

[5][48] The editors of National Review said her defiance of the executive order was "inappropriate", since Yates was unelected and "every official in the Justice Department knows, if one disagrees with the law one is called upon to apply, or the policy one is bound to enforce, one is free to resign".

[49] The New York Times and others drew comparisons to the 1973 Saturday Night Massacre, during the Watergate scandal, when Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus both resigned after refusing to carry out President Richard Nixon's order to dismiss special prosecutor Archibald Cox.

"There's a big difference, because the Saturday Night Massacre was really about firing the attorney general when Nixon was the target of an investigation and was actively obstructing justice", he said.

[55] [56][57] [58][59] Later the same month, however, The Washington Post published documents indicating that the Trump administration had sought to block her from testifying, including letters from the Justice Department to Yates indicating that the administration considers her possible testimony on the ouster of Flynn to be barred by the presidential communications privilege or deliberative process privilege.

"[62][61] On May 8, 2017, Yates and James Clapper testified for three hours before the Senate Judiciary's Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism over the Russian interference in the 2016 U.S.

As previously reported, she told McGahn that Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials about the nature of his conversation with the Russian ambassador.

[66] She said Flynn's "underlying conduct", which she could not describe due to classification, "was problematic in and of itself", adding "(i)t was a whole lot more than one White House official lying to another".

[69][70] In November, Yates was named a candidate for United States Attorney General in the Biden administration;[71] however, Merrick Garland was ultimately nominated for the post instead.

[72] In October 2021, Yates was hired by the United States Soccer Federation to oversee an investigation regarding abuse claims made by players from the National Women's Soccer League, whose Commissioner Lisa Baird resigned in wake of complaints of sexual improprieties against coaches, including English coaches Paul Riley and Richie Burke.

The USSF, the national governing body for the sport (which had operated the NWSL before 2020), indicated that Yates would have "full autonomy" to pursue resolution of the allegations.