July 27, 2019

Democrats Condemn Supreme Court Decision Allowing Trump to Build Wall With Pentagon Funds

“Our Founders designed a democracy governed by the people—not a monarchy.”

Stefani Reynolds/ZUMA

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Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and a number of 2020 candidates, are roundly condemning the Supreme Court’s decision late Friday to allow the Trump administration to tap into $2.5 billion of the Pentagon’s budget to build parts of a border wall at the US-Mexico border, describing it as a violation of the separation of powers for the sake of the president’s “vanity project.”

“This is a deeply regrettable and nonsensical decision and flies in the face of the will of Congress and the Congress’ exclusive power of the purse, which our founders established in the Constitution,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said last night. 

The 5-4 ruling overturns a lower court’s decision last month that had blocked the president from using military funding to construct the border project while legal disputes were still ongoing. The 9th Circuit ruling had made permanent a lower court decision in May that prevented using military funds to build a border wall in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and had expanded the list to include California.

The 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision comes as a major victory for President Trump. After Congress repeatedly rejected Trump’s proposed funding for the wall—a clash that nearly prompted another government shutdown—Trump in February declared a national emergency to divert billions of dollars that would allow him to make good on a signature campaign promise.

On Friday, Trump praised the Supreme Court’s decision as a win for the “Rule of Law.” But Democrats viewed it as the opposite.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib went a step further, pointing to the decision as the latest justification to begin impeachment proceedings against the president. 

 

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