Trump to declare emergency over wall funding
Congress approves spending bill; constitutional clash expected as Dems, GOP blast move
President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency as early as Friday to bypass Congress and build his long-promised wall along the nation’s southwestern border even as he agreed to sign a spending package that does not finance it, White House officials said Thursday.
The announcement came just minutes before voting began on the spending measure, which then cleared both houses, ending a two-month war of attrition that closed much of the federal government for 35 days and threatened a second shutdown. The Senate passed it 83-16, and the House followed later in the evening, 300-128.
But if Trump declares a national emergency to access billions of dollars for his wall, he could instigate a constitutional clash over who controls the federal purse and test the bounds of presidential authority in a time of divided government. Democrats and some Republicans instantly condemned the move, with some vowing to challenge it through legislation and lawsuits.
The president’s plan would combine money included in the spending package for fencing along the border with funds he can divert from other programs using traditional presidential discretion on top of still other money he could tap by declaring an emergency. Altogether, an administration official said, Trump would be able to dedicate
about $8 billion for barriers, more than the $5.7 billion that Congress refused to give him.
The emergency declaration combined with the $1.375 billion in the spending measure dedicated to fencing and other reprogrammed funds would allow the president to put together about $8 billion for barriers along the border, according to an administration official, more than the $5.7 billion he had been seeking from Congress.
“President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action — including a national emergency — to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. “The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border and secure our great country.”
Trump’s announcement capped hours of last-minute drama as he came under pressure Thursday morning to not sign the spending legislation from conservative figures like Laura Ingraham, who denounced it on Twitter as a “monstrosity” and a “Total SCAM!”
A balky president considered telling Republican leaders to put aside the measure, brokered by both parties, and instead pass a short-term bill to keep the government open while allowing him to resume efforts to win border wall money, according to a Republican briefed on the situation.
Such a move would have unraveled the delicate bipartisan balance favored by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader, who wanted to move beyond the wall fight. In a telephone conversation Thursday, Trump asked McConnell whether the spending measure included any hidden provisions or “land mines,” and the senator reassured him it did not, according to a person familiar with the call.
Trump was persuaded to sign the bipartisan spending measure, and some close to the president doubted that he was ever really wavering and instead was just enjoying the suspense.
But McConnell chose not to take a chance, rushing to the floor and interrupting a colleague’s speech to announce Trump’s decision, in effect locking it in before he could change his mind.
In agreeing to end the spending fight for now, however, Trump essentially started a new one with his vow to declare a national emergency, one that crosses party and ideological lines as liberals and conservatives alike objected to what they called presidential overreach.
Seven Senate Democrats, including four announced or possible presidential candidates, immediately introduced legislation intended to block Trump from diverting money from disaster relief for the wall. Some House Democrats, including Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, began endorsing a joint resolution to essentially nullify a national emergency declaration.
A parade of liberal advocacy organizations sent out prewritten statements promising to challenge any such declaration in court as “an outrageous abuse of power” by an “unstable and increasingly autocratic” president, as one of the groups, Public Citizen, put it.
“The president is doing an end run around Congress,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California told reporters. She suggested that Trump was setting a precedent for future Democratic presidents to act on issues like gun control — precisely the scenario that scares Republicans.
“You want to talk about a national emergency, let’s talk about today,” Pelosi said, reminding Trump that it was the anniversary of the shooting massacre last February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Seventeen students and staff members were killed. “That’s a national emergency. Why don’t you declare that emergency, Mr. President? I wish you would.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, echoed her criticism and said Congress would defend its prerogatives. “The public was more opposed to the emergency declaration than they were to the wall,” he said in a brief interview. “And they were opposed to the wall.”
About a half-dozen Senate Republicans quickly spoke out against the move, as well. “I don’t think this is a matter that should be declared a national emergency,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. “We as legislators are trying to address the president’s priority. What we’re voting on now is perhaps an imperfect solution, but it’s one we could get consensus on.”
Among the Republicans who privately warned Trump against an emergency declaration was McConnell, who expects that House Democrats will pass a nonbinding resolution disapproving it in a form that the Republican leader cannot block from a floor vote. At least five or six Republican senators are likely to vote against the president, making a majority along with the Democrats.
A person familiar with the discussions said that McConnell said that he has warned Trump that he has less than two weeks to try to persuade wavering Republicans to support his national emergency effort, otherwise he will face the prospect of a bipartisan rebuke by Congress.
The spending legislation that passed Thursday drew strong bipartisan votes in a Congress that has been deeply divided along party lines. In the House, 213 Democrats and 87 Republicans voted yes, meaning that Democrats were unable to pass it by themselves because they lost 19 of their own. Most Republicans, 109 in all, voted no.
Pelosi, using nearly a dozen pens to sign the final bill, applauded the bipartisan majority, calling it “quite a remarkable show.”
In the Senate, most of the 16 no votes were by Republicans, along with four Democratic presidential candidates — Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
The package includes the seven remaining bills to keep the remainder of the government open through the rest of the fiscal year at the end of September.