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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(107,112 posts)
Thu Jan 10, 2019, 09:26 PM Jan 2019

Trump administration lays groundwork to declare national emergency to build wall

The White House has begun laying the groundwork for a declaration of national emergency to build President Trump’s border wall, including searching for unused money in the Army Corps of Engineers budget, two people with knowledge of the preparations said Thursday.

Such a declaration would be certain to set off a firestorm of opposition and would undoubtedly be challenged in court. But it could also be a way out of the current impasse, allowing Trump to cite action on his long-promised wall even without Congress granting his funding demands, and potentially paving the way for the government to reopen. The shutdown is now in its third week.

Trump has urged the Army Corps to determine how fast contracts could be signed and whether construction could begin within 45 days, according to one of these people, an official familiar with the deliberations who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe them.

The administration is specifically eyeing a disaster spending bill passed by Congress last year that includes $13.9 billion in funding that has been allocated but not actually spent for a variety of projects, according to the second person, a congressional aide who also requested anonymity.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/trump-administration-lays-groundwork-to-declare-national-emergency-to-build-wall/2019/01/10/e8902698-14fa-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html?utm_term=.95e7f17e5851&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

45 days? Unless engineering has been done and procurement of material has started I'd say it's doubtful.

This is a guy who's built skyscrapers? He should know better.

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hlthe2b

(101,730 posts)
5. They might give him a pass on invoking "emergency powers", but I doubt they will sustain his
Thu Jan 10, 2019, 10:08 PM
Jan 2019

corrupt funding plan, given clearly the HOUSE has the constitutional authority and responsibility to appropriate $$.

still_one

(91,965 posts)
6. I believe for "emergency powers", he can use funds allocated for other purposes. We are in a very
Thu Jan 10, 2019, 10:12 PM
Jan 2019

dangerous place as a country


hlthe2b

(101,730 posts)
7. I still don't think they will sustain his using Congressionally allocated funds for the wall
Thu Jan 10, 2019, 10:15 PM
Jan 2019

when Congress expressly refused to fund it and especially since the case for there being a true emergency is readily proven to be false.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
10. Exactly. But the upside if they do that is the next democratic President can be ruthless
Thu Jan 10, 2019, 11:37 PM
Jan 2019

in ignoring republicans and do decree action on climate change abatement, infrastructure (unsafe bridges, ect), ect. Republicans that go along with this should be forced to rue the day that they did, so should the Supreme Court.

rustysgurl

(1,040 posts)
3. He Doesn't Care ...
Thu Jan 10, 2019, 09:49 PM
Jan 2019

He doesn't care who builds it.
He doesn't care who pays for it.
He doesn't care if he lies to get it.
He doesn't care who dies so he can get it.

It could be built from a gajillion popsicle sticks held together by the glue made from the bodies of dead immigrant children, as long as he could put his big fat name on it and call it HIS. The wall is his be-all and end-all .. his reason for drawing breath into that big, fat, bloated body. Like all of the things he put his name on, he will move Heaven and Earth to make it happen, all for the glory of Trump.

He doesn't care about health care, education, the environment, the economy, crime, jobs, etc. .. he only cares about that which in his tiny little twisted mind, glorifies him and makes him appear to have accomplished something IMPORTANT, something no one else has done.

He has been told 'NO' by Mama Pelosi and he is scrambling to make it happen, no matter what, even if it takes food out of the mouths of Puerto Ricans or shelter over the heads of Californians. HE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ANYONE BUT HIMSELF. Hell, he doesn't even care about the welfare of his own base, only that they punch in his name come voting time. After that, they are expendable. When are his acolytes and sycophants going to realize that they elected (with a lot of help from the Russians) a sick, sick man who is leading this country on the path to destruction?

Amishman

(5,541 posts)
9. All this crap underscores the checks we need against presidential power
Thu Jan 10, 2019, 10:45 PM
Jan 2019

We should be putting up a bill in the house immediately to restrict presidential power, emergency and otherwise

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
11. And it goes nowhere. Fight him in Court, force the SC to back the Constitution.
Thu Jan 10, 2019, 11:40 PM
Jan 2019

If the majority don't they render themselves useless. In theory, Trump should lose 9-0 in the SC.

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