--- title: Jeff Sessions Hawaii: He Calls It 'an Island in the Pacific' description: Hawaiian lawmakers are criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions for calling Hawaii "an island in the Pacific" while criticizing a ruling. canonical: https://time.com/4749244/jeff-sessions-hawaii-island-pacific/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-20T19:47:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:09.457Z article:section: Politics og:title: Lawmakers Criticize Attorney General Jeff Sessions for Calling Hawaii 'an Island in the Pacific' og:description: "I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President." og:url: https://time.com/4749244/jeff-sessions-hawaii-island-pacific/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2ed86ce11f61b01/6988c3d40a4a227c899cdd10/jeff-sessions-attorney-general-donald-trump-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: AG Jeff Sessions Holds A Meeting On Transnational Organized Crime og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lawmakers Criticize Attorney General Jeff Sessions for Calling Hawaii 'an Island in the Pacific' twitter:description: "I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2ed86ce11f61b01/6988c3d40a4a227c899cdd10/jeff-sessions-attorney-general-donald-trump-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lawmakers Criticize Attorney General Jeff Sessions for Calling Hawaii 'an Island in the Pacific' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: A Judge in Hawaii Just Blocked President Trump's New Travel Ban Nationwide [Watch (HLS stream): A Judge in Hawaii Just Blocked President Trump's New Travel Ban Nationwide](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vovoNlMT.m3u8) (1:25)  _Published 2017-03-16. Hours before it was to take effect, President Donald Trump's revised travel ban was put on hold Wednesday by a federal judge in Hawaii after hearing arguments that the executive order discriminates on the basis of nationality._ by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Apr 20, 2017 7:47 PM UTC  Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks about organized gang violence at the Department of Justice, April 18, 2016 in Washington, D.C. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks about organized gang violence at the Department of Justice, April 18, 2016 in Washington, D.C.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Apr 20, 2017 7:47 PM UTC Hawaiian lawmakers are criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions for calling Hawaii “an island in the Pacific” while criticizing a federal judge’s blocking of President Trump’s [revised travel ban](http://time.com/4703177/donald-trump-travel-ban-immigration-hawaii-judge/). The comments came in an appearance on “The Mark Levin Show” Wednesday evening, according to [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/20/politics/kfile-sessions-psychoanalyze/index.html). Asked about judicial appointments, Sessions said he had gained new perspective from Trump’s legal battles over his executive orders. “This is a huge matter,” he said. “I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power.” In March, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson issued a nationwide temporary restraining order to Trump’s travel ban, and then [extended the order](http://time.com/4717914/hawaii-judge-blocks-trump-travel-ban/?iid=sr-link2), prompting the president to [file an appeal](http://time.com/4719959/donald-trump-travel-ban-hawaii-judge-repeal/?iid=sr-link4). Hawaii’s elected representatives did not take the comments lightly. Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat, responded on Twitter saying Sessions voted for Judge Watson and calling on the attorney general to show respect. > [](https://twitter.com/brianschatz/status/855141456062763008) Hawaii’s other Senator, Mazie Hirono, also called out Sessions on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/maziehirono/status/855139776701313025) > [](https://twitter.com/maziehirono/status/855140104754667523) Sessions, who previously represented Alabama in the U.S. Senate, was 12 when Hawaii was granted statehood in 1959. According to the Huffington Post, the Justice Department responded by noting Sessions’ accuracy on the placement of the state of Hawaii. “Hawaii is, in fact, an island in the Pacific,” a DOJ spokesperson said. > [](https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/855171919020273665) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4749244/jeff-sessions-hawaii-island-pacific/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4749244/jeff-sessions-hawaii-island-pacific/"},"headline":"Lawmakers Criticize Attorney General Jeff Sessions for Calling Hawaii 'an Island in the Pacific'","datePublished":"2017-04-20T19:47:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:49:09.457Z","description":"\"I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President\"","url":"https://time.com/4749244/jeff-sessions-hawaii-island-pacific/","keywords":["hawaii","White House","justice","Donald Trump","Jeff Sessions","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2ed86ce11f61b01/6988c3d40a4a227c899cdd10/jeff-sessions-attorney-general-donald-trump-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2ed86ce11f61b01/6988c3d40a4a227c899cdd10/jeff-sessions-attorney-general-donald-trump-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AG Jeff Sessions Holds A Meeting On Transnational Organized Crime","caption":"AG Jeff Sessions Holds A Meeting On Transnational Organized Crime","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/hawaii/","name":"hawaii"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4749244/jeff-sessions-hawaii-island-pacific/","name":"Lawmakers Criticize Attorney General Jeff Sessions for Calling Hawaii 'an Island in the Pacific'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Judge in Hawaii Just Blocked President Trump's New Travel Ban Nationwide","description":"Hours before it was to take effect, President Donald Trump's revised travel ban was put on hold Wednesday by a federal judge in Hawaii after hearing arguments that the executive order discriminates on the basis of nationality.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vovoNlMT/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-16T02:41:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vovoNlMT.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4749244/jeff-sessions-hawaii-island-pacific/","duration":"PT1M25S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4749244/jeff-sessions-hawaii-island-pacific/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```