Donald Trump really, really wants to build a wall. Given that he is not a reader, he might not appreciate a presidential library in his name. A wall, like The Great Wall of China, now that would be something the president could get his head around.
Unfortunately, a Texas federal judge has blocked the president’s dream wall. POTUS wanted to divert billions from the Pentagon coffers to his border wall construction — for the second time.
Judge David Briones of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas indicated that Trump could not take military construction funds to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. The president pointed out that both funds had “construction” in their titles.
Trump has been trying to get his wall ever since he took office nearly three years ago. He has trouble grasping that the House not the president controls the purse strings. Or that once those funds are designated, he cannot move them around.
The courts have not favored the president. He has lost lawsuits over his draconian immigration policies and relleasing his tax returns. However, he was willing to go all the way to the Supreme Court in his financial records protection. There, he hoped his two appointments would help him win out.
Trump managed to get his Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to authorize diverting $3.6 billion from the military construction funds to 11 of his wall projects. At that time, the Pentagon said half of those funds came from “deferred projects overseas” and half from onshore projects.
Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Colonel Chris Mitchell released this statement, CNN reported:
‘DoD is evaluating the injunction right now, and will work with the Department of Justice on the next steps. DoD will comply with all court orders.’
The president received $1.375 billion for his wall from Congress. Earlier, he turned down a significantly higher amount and closed down the government.
The lawsuit indicated that the wall did not meet the National Emergency Act’s definition of “emergency.”
Kristy Parker for Counsel for Protect Democracy, which is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization representing the plaintiffs, released a statement:
‘The President’s emergency proclamation was a blatant attempt to grab power from Congress. Today’s order affirms that the President is not a king and that our courts are willing to check him when he oversteps his bounds.’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi linked the ruling to other rules blocking the Executive Branch from making an end-run around Congress. She released a statement that read:
‘Once again, the courts have resoundingly ruled against the President’s attempt to negate our system of separation of powers, which is the genius of our Constitution, by assaulting Congress’s exclusive constitutional power of the purse. Despite what the President may think, Article II does not mean that he can ‘do whatever he wants.”
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
