While too many Republicans in Congress continue to defend Donald Trump’s fake national emergency declaration, more than a dozen states controlled by Democrats are suing over the clear abuse of power.
According to The New York Times, “A coalition of 16 Democratic-controlled states, including California and New York, on Monday challenged President Trump in court over his plan to use emergency powers to spend billions of dollars on his border wall.”
Given that Trump will likely veto any congressional attempt to block his declaration, and there won’t be enough GOP Senate votes to override such a veto, the matter is likely to be settled by the courts.
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The lawsuit is part of a constitutional confrontation that Mr. Trump set off on Friday when he declared that he would spend billions of dollars more on border barriers than Congress had granted him. The clash raises questions over congressional control of spending, the scope of emergency powers granted to the president, and how far the courts are willing to go to settle such a dispute.
The suit, filed in Federal District Court in San Francisco, argues that the president does not have the power to divert funds for constructing a wall along the Mexican border because it is Congress that controls spending.
Trump himself already made a strong case against his fake emergency
Those opposing the president’s national emergency stunt say that the strongest case against the power grab comes from Trump himself.
As California attorney general Xavier Becerra said, according to report, “Probably the best evidence is the president’s own words.”
When Trump announced his national emergency late last week, he said, “I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster.”
It’s pretty simple: The president of the United States can’t just concoct a national emergency in order to circumvent the legislative branch of government.
With the president on tape admitting that this is exactly what he’s doing, it’ll be hard to defend in court.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
