Signing an $854 billion government spending bill, 72-year-old Donald Trump declared a national border emergency, allowing him under his Article 2 powers to dig into other sources of funding for U.S. national security. Democrats in the House and Senate vowed to stop Trump from what they regard a breaching their Article 1 powers related to Congress holding the purse strings when it comes to funding priorities. Yet when it comes to military adventures, dating back to the Korean War, presidents have used their Article 2 powers to fund a variety of military adventures, including the recent ones in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Congress didn’t insist that when it came to war-making, the president must have, under Article 1, Congressional approval for staging military adventures Since the 1973 War Powers Act, Congress cannot stop the Executive Branch from funding military conflicts.
Since Trump ran for president in 2016, he promised to build a border wall, beefing up existing fencing where it’s deemed appropriate by border authorities. Push came to shove with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San. Fran.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Dec. 11, 2018, when they laughed in Trump’s face in the Oval Office over his request for $5.7 billion in border wall funding. When Pelosi and Schumer met again with Trump Dec 20, they told him he wouldn’t get one red nickel for border wall funding. On Dec. 21, Trump refused to sign the Continuing Budget Resolution shutting down the government for a record 35 days. When Trump reopened the government Jan. 24, he gave Pelsos and Schumer three weeks to negotiate a fair deal with a House-Senate Conference Committee, giving him at least some part of his $5.7 billion request for border wall funding.
Signing the Continuing Budget Resolution today, Trump expressed regret that Congress only gave him $1.375 billion for border wall funding. Pelosi and Schumer knew that Trump might declare a national border emergency to allocate the funds needed to build out the border wall. “The president’s actions clearly violate the Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution,” said Pelosi, twisting separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. Both Article 1 [Congress] and Article 2 [Presidency] have the authority to allocate funds. Congress can’t stop the president from dealing with emergencies to protect U.S. national security. “The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts and in the public, using every remedy available,” said Pelosi and Schumer, making this a turf war.
Pelosi and Schumer told Trump he could have one dollar to deal with the U.S.-Mexico border wall. How’s that responsible negotiation? When the House-Senate Conference Committee finished its work, Trump was allocated on one-third of his request. When Democrats seek injunctive relief in federal court to stop Trump’s attempt to allocate $600 million from the Treasury Department forfeiture fund, $2.5 billion from the Defense Department Drug interdiction program, and $3.5 billion from the military construction budget, it might not go their way. Trump expressed confidence that he had the authority under Article 2 to seek funds from alternative sources if Congress refuses his budget request for the wall. “We applaud President Trump for working to keep his promise to the American people and fighting to make our country safe and secure,” said Jenny Beth Martin, honorary chair of the Tea Party Patriots Action Group.
Congressional Democrats and Republicans expressed reservations about Trump’s decision to declare a national border emergency. Republicans worried that Trump’s decision would spark a future Democrat president of doing the same thing when it came to gun control or global warming. Calling it a “dangerous step,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), opposed the president’s actions, thinking it sets a bad precedent. When litigated in District Court, there are few precedents for the president’s actions, other than allocating resources from military actions. “In the millions not in the billions,” said John Paul Woolsey Jr., a former Asst. Secretary of Army for civil works, referring to past presidential requests for military funding. “Congress regards—particularly the appropriations committee regard—any reprogramming, however small, as a very serious matter,” said Woolsey.
Democrats could prevail against Trump in District Court, if, for no other reason, there’s limited precedent for the president allocating large some of cash for a pet project. No matter how important—or how disputed by Democrats—it’s possible the District Court will issue a stay against Trump’s attempts to get cash from various government departments. Whether it actually violates Congressional authority is anyone’s guess. One thing’s for sure, Pelosi and Schumer think fighting Trump is their best strategy heading into the 2020 presidential election. “Unfortunately, the radical Democrats refuse to support border security and want drugs and crime to pour into our country,” Trump said, hinting at his campaign strategy. However Trump’s border emergency plays out in the federal courts, the die has been cast for both parties in the upcoming 2020 presidential elections.
