Originally appeared at ZeroHedge
Update: The blowback begins, with Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer: “This is plainly a power grab by a disappointed President, who has gone outside the bounds of the law to try to get what he failed to achieve in the constitutional legislative process.”
Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer:
"This is plainly a power grab by a disappointed President, who has gone outside the bounds of the law to try to get what he failed to achieve in the constitutional legislative process." pic.twitter.com/WtSRtzyLdo
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 15, 2019
To be sure, as Trump himself stated, he “expects to be sued” over the national emergency, and anticiaptes the case will eventually escalate to the Supreme Court.
For those who missed it, here is Trump’s full presser and Q&A:
* * *
As previewed last night, in a national address, Trump said would declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and build $8 billion in barriers on the border, a critical step toward his long-desired wall along the southern border. Trump’s move, announced in an improvised address from the Rose Garden, will launch a fierce constitutional battle in the courts with lawmakers and outside groups opposed to his decision.
“I am going to be signing a national emergency,” Trump said after a long introduction to his remarks that touched on trade, China and the caravans of immigrants that Trump made a political issue of ahead of last fall’s midterm elections.
“It’s a great thing to do because we have an invasion of drugs, invasion of gangs, invasion of people,” the president said in seeking to justify the need for an emergency declaration.
“People that should have stepped up did not step up… It would have been easy,” Trump said of the national emergency to fund the border wall, saying it would have been “great to have done it earlier.”
"People that should have stepped up did not step up… It would have been easy," President Trump announced he is declaring a national emergency to fund the border wall, saying it would have been "great to have done it earlier." https://t.co/HcezcMNsxZ pic.twitter.com/svtkmPUUDQ
— CNBC (@CNBC) February 15, 2019
Trump is separately set to sign legislation approved by Congress that funds the government and prevents a new shutdown set to begin on Saturday. But that legislation fell far short of his demands for $5.7 billion in wall funding.
Trump will redirect $3.6 billion in military construction funding toward the border project, and will also take separate executive action repurposing about $2.5 billion from the Defense Department’s drug-interdiction program and $600 million from the Treasury Department’s asset-forfeiture fund. Officials said the goal is to ultimately build roughly 234 miles of barriers along the border, including bollard-style wall.
Here’s how the $8B for border barrier/wall/fencing breaks down:
– $1.37B — SPENDING BILL
– $600M — TREASURY’S DRUG FORFEITURE FUND
– $2.5B — DEFENSE DEPT DRUG INTERDICTION PROGRAM
– $3.5B — MILITARY CONSTRUCTION BUDGET(POTUS using emergency declaration for this)— Jessica Smith (@JessicaASmith8) February 15, 2019
An administration official did not identify which military construction projects would be affected but said funding would be taken from “lower-priority construction projects,” such as funding to fix or repair existing structures, and not from flood-mitigation efforts or projects that would affect military readiness. Disaster-relief funds will also not be touched.
* * *
Lawmakers in both parties have criticized Trump’s decision to declare an emergency, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did offer his support on Thursday. McConnell also announced that Trump would be taking the step of declaring an emergency.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking Thursday on the anniversary of the Parkland, Fla., school shootings, said it could lead a new president to declare a national emergency on guns. Such a scenario is exactly what some GOP lawmakers have feared.
“A Democratic president can declare emergencies, as well,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. “So the precedent that the president is setting here is something that should be met with great unease and dismay by the Republicans.”
Mulvaney pushed back against Democrats’ claims Trump’s move would allow a president from their party to declare an emergency over an issue like climate change and gun violence, saying it “actually creates zero precedent” and calling the claim “completely false.”
Additionally, Democrats are expected to bring a resolution of disapproval on the emergency declaration that is likely to win GOP support. While it is unlikely to win enough support to overcome a Trump veto, it may have majority support in the Senate as well as the House.
* * *
Trump’s decision to sign the spending bill ends three weeks of uncertainty over whether he would trigger another shutdown over his demand for wall money. The president reopened closed government agencies on Jan. 25 after a 35-day shutdown that resulted in a major blow to his approval ratings and no financing for a wall.
According to The Hill, a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill spent the ensuing weeks hammering out a proposal that includes $1.375 billion in wall funding, only a fraction of the $5.7 billion Trump demanded. Trump’s acceptance of the compromise marked a defeat for a president who touted his negotiating skills during the 2016 campaign, and it showed Democrats’ increased leverage under divided government. As such the only option Trump had was to declare a national emergency: what happens next remains to be seen.
* * *
EARLIER:
Before signing the border funding bill that has now passed both the House and Senate, President Trump is reportedly planning to announce his plan to declare a national emergency to source an additional $7 billion in funding for his border wall beyond the $1.35 billion for a “physical barrier” approved as part of the compromise bill.
The speech is set to begin at 10 am ET. Trump will be speaking from the Rose Garden:
Trump plans to use his unilateral authority to spend more than $8 billion to construct physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a White House official, a maneuver that Speaker Pelosi has already warned will likely prompt a lengthy legal challenge.
According to media reports, Trump will use the declaration to redirect $3.5 billion that Congress approved for the Defense Department’s military construction budget, while also redirecting $2.5 billion from the Defense Department’s drug interdiction efforts and $600 million from the Treasury department’s drug forfeiture program.
Surprisingly since it was widely telegraphed during the shutdown, some Republicans are pushing back against Trump’s national emergency declaration plans, according to Bloomberg, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor that he would support the plan.
Meanwhile, others – including Rand Paul and Marco Rubio – have criticized the plan, claiming it raises constitutional issues and could set a dangerous precedent.
It’s “a bad idea,” said GOP Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. “It raises real constitutional questions.”
But others backed Trump and McConnell. “I stand firmly behind President Trump’s decision to use executive powers to build the wall-barriers we desperately need,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and ally of Trump.
[…]
GOP Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky also told reporters he doesn’t support an emergency declaration.
“The Constitution is very clear at trying to separate the powers, and if we start naming things as emergency I think very quickly we lose sort of the checks and balances of government,” he said.
Susan Collins of Maine, who has always been lukewarm in her support of a border wall, criticized the measure for circumventing Congress.
GOP Senator Susan Collins of Maine opposed an emergency order because “it undermines the role of Congress and the appropriations process.”
Others echoed the oft-repeated criticism that, if Trump does this, then what would stop a future president Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris from declaring a national emergency to fight climate change and end fossil fuel consumption?
“If Trump can get away with declaring a national emergency and then spending money on this construction project which is only vaguely related to national security, why wouldn’t future presidents do the same thing?” asked Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University and an expert in constitutional law and property law. “What’s to stop a President Elizabeth Warren or any other Democratic president from saying climate change is a threat to national security?”
Already, Democrats are marshaling the resistance to Trump’s efforts. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said she will introduce a bill on Friday to try and block Trump.
But before Dems start screeching about how unprecedented this is, here’s a list of all the national emergencies.
Of course, we should expect an avalanche of media-sponsored outrage that President Trump should declare this a National Emergency in order to secure funding, but as The Epoch Times details, there are currently 31 active National Emergencies…
- Nov 14, 1979: Blocking Iranian Government Property (EO12170)
- Nov 14, 1994: Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (EO 12938)
- Jan 23, 1995: Prohibiting Transactions With Terrorists Who Threaten To Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process (EO 12947)
- Mar 15, 1995: Prohibiting Certain Transactions with Respect to the Development of Iranian Petroleum Resources (EO 12957)
- Oct 21, 1995: Blocking Assets and Prohibiting Transactions with Significant Narcotics Traffickers (EO 12978)
- Mar 1, 1996: Declaration of a National Emergency and Invocation of Emergency Authority Relating to the Regulation of the Anchorage and Movement of Vessels (Proc. 6867)
- Nov 3, 1997: Blocking Sudanese Government Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Sudan (EO 13067)
- Jun 26, 2001: Blocking Property of Persons Who Threaten International Stabilization Efforts in the Western Balkans (EO 13219)
- Aug 17, 2001: Continuation of Export Control Regulations (EO 13222)
- Sep 14, 2001: Declaration of National Emergency by Reason of Certain Terrorist Attacks (Proc. 7463)
- Sep 23, 2001: Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten To Commit, or Support Terrorism (EO 13224)
- Mar 6, 2003: Blocking Property of Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe (EO 13288)
- May 22, 2003: Protecting the Development Fund for Iraq and Certain Other Property in Which Iraq Has an Interest (EO 13303)
- May 11, 2004: Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting the Export of Certain Goods to Syria (EO 13338)
- Jun 16, 2006: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Belarus (EO 13405)
- Oct 27, 2006: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (EO 13413)
- 17. Aug 1, 2007: Blocking Property of Persons Undermining the Sovereignty of Lebanon or Its Democratic Processes and Institutions (EO 13441)
- Jun 26, 2008: Continuing Certain Restrictions With Respect to North Korea & North Korean Nationals (EO 13466)
- Apr 12, 2010: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in Somalia (EO 13536)
- Feb 25, 2011: Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Libya (EO 13566)
- Jul 24, 2011: Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations (EO13581)
- May 16, 2012: Blocking Property of Persons Threatening the Peace, Security, or Stability of Yemen (EO 13611)
- Mar 6, 2014: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine (EO 13660)
- Apr 3, 2014: Blocking Property of Certain Persons With Respect to South Sudan (EO 13664)
- May 12, 2014: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Central African Republic (EO 13667)
- Mar 8, 2015: Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela (EO 13692)
- Apr 1, 2015: Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities (EO 13694)
- Nov 22, 2015: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Burundi (EO 13712)
- Dec 20, 2017: Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption (EO13818)
- Sep 12, 2018: Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election (EO 13848)
- Nov 27, 2018: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Nicaragua (EO 13851)
…and since the National Emergencies Act went into effect in the mid-1970s, a total of 58 have been declared, most of which were in regard to foreign issues (like the War in Iraq).
So if your bill doesn’t pass, just declare a national emergency? LOL
The fat dude should just nuke himself and get it over with…
Whi, Porky ?
Half of the population of the US wants the wall built. If you back out illegals and their descendants, it’s mote like 60%.
I was thinking maybe 3 fence lines and 2 moats through desert region, maybe add in some diamondbacks in the ditches ?
Almost 3,000 illegals enter the US every day, the vast majority across the Mexican border. That can be reduced by over 90% with a barrier supported by technology and enforcement. Entire southern cities and states are completely overrun with them. It’s absurd that the US spends TRILLIONS for the Jews on fake wars. When it refuses to even secure it’s southern border. The US legislature is awol. Something needs to be done.
Yerrh, of course Jews are all over. Accoding to You they must be a majority at earth. If so, why cant they decide anything.
DA EVIL JEWZ or not, its still ridiculous not to do something about illegals entering the country. It’s the raison d’etre of any country to look after the interests of its citizens, not to give illegal immigrants free entry at the expense of its own citizens.
But oh no, employers and lefties decry, illegal immigrants do the dirty work that nobody want to to do. That’s because the dirty work doesn’t pay squat. Employers don’t want to pay higher wages and with a steady stream of illegals they don’t have to.
It’s not all that cut and dried. We have a good border patrol that is pretty damn effective. If you don’t believe it, go to Texas and go within 150 miles of the border. You’ll see those border patrol vehicles everywhere…and vehicles with Mexicans aboard stopped everywhere. You should try some of the work you seem to scoff at. I worked in an onion field when I was broke and basically homeless. You had your choice of $1 an hour or $.02 a bag pitching 80 pound sacks of onions into a hopper. I was one of two white people there. Most had green cards to enter and work, then leave. The trouble came from the drug war and Reagan was supposed to deal with immigration with a wall too, after giving amnesty to 12 million Mexicans. That never happened and during W’s reign, Mexicans who were starving came for work. I don’t blame them, I blame those who hired them…but those people were never held accountable, even though they violated how many laws? They weren’t ‘lefties’ as you call them, they were big business…Walmart included. That time is over. There are no real jobs, we ourselves have been reduced to migrant workers in our own country. The Mexicans are not resonsible for that, our glorious corrupt leaders, that we continuously re-elect, are. The wall will accomplish nothing but spend money on something that will not benefit the people and will take needed money from infrastructure maintenance and repair. Do the American people really believe that gangs and hordes of criminals come over the Mexican border? You bet they do. Just like they believe that a bunch of cave dwellers took out the WTC. The American people are the easiest people in the world to buffalo.
You must have interpreted my post wrong. I did not scoff at the dirty work, a term that apologists of immigration use, I scoff at the shitty pay that is being offered that is so low only illegal immigrants will do it. And then they say that our own people are too lazy.
Lefties want immigration because they are so sad. And also to undermine Western society. Employers want immigration so they don’t have to pay decent wages. I don’t see how this contradicts what you’re saying.
Well, there is a difference between immigrants and illegal immigrants. Those that see immigration as an asset have many reasons for that, not just compassion. Those that see illegal immigration as a benefit have different aims and goals and do not want (legal) immigration. Those that do the ‘shit work’ are by far here legally. Those that are not, mostly work for places like WalMart, packing plants, slaughter houses, construction, landscaping, etc. Those employers are the reason that people come illegally and they are rarely prosecuted. If they are prosecuted, it never makes the crime unprofitable. I doubt that they could be called lefties and are by far the driving force of illegal immigration. Are there people here who want amnesty? Yep. Are they wrong? Yep. Are our immigration laws slanted to encourage illegal immigration? Yep. Will a wall stop tunnels? Nope. Will a wall stop illegal entry aboard ships? Nope. Would crippling fines and jail sentences discourage hiring illegals? Yep. So what is the answer? Build a wall.
Perhaps you are right, but the snake idea is a lot cheaper. :)
The anti American US legislature is one of the most gerrymandered in the world. American firsters are almost completely screened out. If you’re an anti Judaic like Jesus Christ, the Jews and their sycophants make sure that you don’t get in office. The US legislature is an almost exclusively Israel first club. That needs to change.
Judaism should be outlawed as the criminal organization that it is. There shouldn’t be any American Jews. The planet should be Jew free. Including the US and Palestine.
If only there was a solution? Hmmmm, a final solution? Something with camps. And showers.
Oh wait, that never happened. Can’t have the Chosen People who rule the Earth be murdered by the millions. That would mean they don’t rule the Earth. Therefore it didn’t happen. It’s a fake! It’s gotta be!
Why not add alligators and dragons in the moat – through the desert ?.
1/3 is it
Math may work out to 17% Please try to pay attention Jens :)
That includes babies ?
Yes JH, you are included.
This ludicrous circus will likely grab the headlines for some weeks/months, taking some heat off his other failures such as the trade war and Venezuela.
1. In that first video, it states that “Number of undocumented immigrants (ie illegal) in the US is at a 12-year low”…… now maybe I am having a senior moment, but how in h3ll would they even know ?. 2. Also “Virtually all illegal drugs come into the US through port of entry” – This is a true manipulation of words as the border crossings are in fact a land port of entry……….. but it infers for the ignorant, a sea port.
Don’t get your hopes up people one way or the other. It will go to the Suprem Court and be shoot down faster than a Israeli license built Russian drone.
I absolutely agree with you as to the machinations of the criminals running my country. About the second, we are not flooded with immigrants, it is just a propaganda ploy. It actuality, there are more leaving than arriving. The caravan is a paid for provocation for political ends. Who is actually behind it is not proven. But those that have been deluded into believing that they would be allowed in are the real victims here. What they have been subjected to is nothing less than criminal. Remember the old mantra…first you create the problem, then you create the cure. A well used US ploy, domestically and internationally.
Yes, this is the general consensus, but in reality, no one actually knows. Even more so, no one knows the actual goal here. It was a manufactured event, true. Was it supposed to happen that Soros would be found out? Or is that part of the facade? Was this to elevate the border wall to an emergency declaration? It’s a great distraction, isn’t it? Never put anything past those who kill with ease and generate wars at the drop of a hat. In truth, there is no difference between Soros and all the rest. What is most likely, they all work together to create chaos and confusion. What is known is that Trump is owned by Adelson…and Trump and Soros have been friends for a long time. Adelson and Soros are not exactly enemies. Does this mean anything?
These are the official statistics of just the apprehensions coming across a mostly open or poorly fenced Mexican border. Most of which would be stopped by a proper barrier, and which doesn’t include those who weren’t caught. Which is a lot of them. Anyone who says that there isn’t a serious problem is ignoring the obvious.
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/u14651/FY19_JAN_SWB_Migration%20graphic.jpg
– Southwest Border Migration FY 2019 –
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/sw-border-migration
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/70ec5f8501ce881b55746cd2d1e22f1a2463b65cc3e70437977ff5d34d79cea1.png
– The Wall –
https://www.usatoday.com/border-wall/us-mexico-interactive-border-map/
Vehicle Barrier https://www.gannett-cdn.com/experiments/usatoday/responsive/2017/08-border-wall-map/img/Border_scenes_84.jpg
– The Wall –
https://www.usatoday.com/border-wall/us-mexico-interactive-border-map/
No Barrier https://www.gannett-cdn.com/experiments/usatoday/responsive/2017/08-border-wall-map/img/Border_scenes_18.jpg
– The Wall –
https://www.usatoday.com/border-wall/us-mexico-interactive-border-map/