Trump's Political Emergency - WSJ Editorial

[question everything]

(snip)

Mr. Trump had little choice other than to sign the spending bill or see the government shut down for the second time in a month. He boxed himself in by saying in December that he’d gladly take ownership of a shutdown, only to discover that his poll numbers fell further the longer the January closure went on.

(snip)

Yet rather than declare partial victory and fight again in the next budget, Mr. Trump will now test the limits of his executive power. The White House hasn’t released the details of its legal justification. But it’s likely he will employ the National Emergencies Act of 1976 so he can move funds previously appropriated for other purposes to build his wall. This looks to us like a misuse of the emergency power delegated by Congress, which is meant for genuine security crises, not to fulfill a campaign promise.

(snip)

As a political matter, Congress may respond by passing a resolution in both houses to override his emergency declaration. A simply majority would suffice in both houses under the emergency law, and there may be enough Senate Republicans to get to 51 votes. Mr. Trump can then veto, and he’s unlikely to be overridden. But this would still be a political defeat that unites Democrats and divides his own party. We’ve argued that Mr. Trump might win his emergency gambit if the case goes to the Supreme Court, but it is a close call and he is taking a big legal risk. Property owners affected by the wall will sue, and the House of Representatives will surely sue as well on grounds that Mr. Trump is usurping its constitutional power of the purse.

(snip)

Constitutional conservatives should also worry if Mr. Trump wins in court. A precedent will be set that future Presidents could use to impose their own priorities despite a reluctant Congress. If climate change will end life as we know it in 12 years, why not impose part of the Green New Deal? No one believes more than we do that a President needs flexibility to move with dispatch in wartime. But the Constitution is also clear that Congress must appropriate money for public purposes.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-political-emergency-11550188998 (paid subscription)

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

1. The Rule of Law v. a two-bit egomaniac. Who will win? eom

[crazytown]

2. There are scared as f'k about the Green New Deal

or their masters are.

[duforsure]

3. Just another power grab probably coming from putin using trump to do it.

Then once he can falsely claim and declare a phony emergency to bypass Congress with , he'll just expand it to use on many other divisive issues for putin, and others for personal profits for himself with. Just think what's next he can use to abort and bypass Congress with, by declaring falsely martial law , then ignore them completely . He'll turn on the Republicans too.