whitaker s ability to lead the attorney general is unconstitutional. they say it has denied each plaintiff the opportunity to cast a binding vote on whether to consent to defendant whitaker serving as a principal officer. senator plumblumenthal, whiteho and hirono are all part of the committee that appoints presidential nominees and whitaker skipped that process. the lawsuit lists multiple other problems with whitaker, including his public criticisms of the russia investigation. so let s start at the white house, with our correspondent there, kaitlan collins. and kaitlan, that the doj just last week issued a defense as to why they believe that whitaker s appointment is valid. is that the same defense that the white house is using today? reporter: it is the same defense. and that s what they re arguing. and we ve seen president trump take his own route here by saying, well, matt whitaker s not confirmed by the senate, but neither was the special counsel, robert mueller, even though, o