President Donald Trump visited an overlook along the Rio Grande at the U.S. Border Patrol McAllen Station in McAllen, Texas on Jan. 10, 2019. (Photo: Shealah Craighead/White House/Flickr)
'Constitutionally Illegitimate': As Workers Miss Another Paycheck, Trump's Draft National Emergency Order Condemned
"Trump invented this emergency when Mexico and 70 percent of Americans said no deal," says Rep. Ilhan Omar
The country's longest ever government shutdown hit day 35 on Friday and federal workers missed yet another paycheck--but instead of urging the GOP-controlled Senate to pass legislation to reopen the government, the White House is reportedly drafting a national emergency order to secure more than $7 billion for President Donald Trump's racist border wall, despite warnings from legal experts that doing so would be "constitutionally illegitimate."
"It wasn't an emergency last week. It wasn't an emergency when the GOP controlled Congress and the White House. It's not an emergency now."
--Rep. Ilhan Omar
A draft obtained exclusively by CNN and updated as recently as last week supposedly declares, "The massive amount of aliens who unlawfully enter the United States each day is a direct threat to the safety and security of our nation and constitutes a national emergency."
"Now, therefore, I, Donald J. Trump, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C 1601, et seq.), hereby declare that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States," it reads.
An unnamed government official told CNN that the White House has identified various sources of funding for the wall, which prompted the shutdown: "$681 million from Treasury forfeiture funds, $3.6 billion in military construction, $3 billion in Pentagon civil works funds, and $200 million in Department of Homeland Security funds."
Such a move, if pursued, would undoubtedly face legal challenges in the courts and from Democrats in Congress, but if Trump's order was allowed to stand, it would mobilize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a wall along the southern border, which would require the federal government to seize private land.
The CNN report, published Thursday night, was met with immediate condemnation.
"It wasn't an emergency last week. It wasn't an emergency when the GOP controlled Congress and the White House. It's not an emergency now," tweeted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). "Trump invented this emergency when Mexico and 70 percent of Americans said no deal."
"Whatever ultimately becomes of Trump's threat, or of the debate over the wall more generally, Congress ought to use this episode as an excuse to revisit the National Emergencies Act--and, more generally, the way in which it delegates these kinds of special powers to the president," Steve Vladeck, a professor at University of Texas School of Law, argued in an op-ed published Thursday by NBC News.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just three days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
The country's longest ever government shutdown hit day 35 on Friday and federal workers missed yet another paycheck--but instead of urging the GOP-controlled Senate to pass legislation to reopen the government, the White House is reportedly drafting a national emergency order to secure more than $7 billion for President Donald Trump's racist border wall, despite warnings from legal experts that doing so would be "constitutionally illegitimate."
"It wasn't an emergency last week. It wasn't an emergency when the GOP controlled Congress and the White House. It's not an emergency now."
--Rep. Ilhan Omar
A draft obtained exclusively by CNN and updated as recently as last week supposedly declares, "The massive amount of aliens who unlawfully enter the United States each day is a direct threat to the safety and security of our nation and constitutes a national emergency."
"Now, therefore, I, Donald J. Trump, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C 1601, et seq.), hereby declare that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States," it reads.
An unnamed government official told CNN that the White House has identified various sources of funding for the wall, which prompted the shutdown: "$681 million from Treasury forfeiture funds, $3.6 billion in military construction, $3 billion in Pentagon civil works funds, and $200 million in Department of Homeland Security funds."
Such a move, if pursued, would undoubtedly face legal challenges in the courts and from Democrats in Congress, but if Trump's order was allowed to stand, it would mobilize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a wall along the southern border, which would require the federal government to seize private land.
The CNN report, published Thursday night, was met with immediate condemnation.
"It wasn't an emergency last week. It wasn't an emergency when the GOP controlled Congress and the White House. It's not an emergency now," tweeted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). "Trump invented this emergency when Mexico and 70 percent of Americans said no deal."
"Whatever ultimately becomes of Trump's threat, or of the debate over the wall more generally, Congress ought to use this episode as an excuse to revisit the National Emergencies Act--and, more generally, the way in which it delegates these kinds of special powers to the president," Steve Vladeck, a professor at University of Texas School of Law, argued in an op-ed published Thursday by NBC News.
The country's longest ever government shutdown hit day 35 on Friday and federal workers missed yet another paycheck--but instead of urging the GOP-controlled Senate to pass legislation to reopen the government, the White House is reportedly drafting a national emergency order to secure more than $7 billion for President Donald Trump's racist border wall, despite warnings from legal experts that doing so would be "constitutionally illegitimate."
"It wasn't an emergency last week. It wasn't an emergency when the GOP controlled Congress and the White House. It's not an emergency now."
--Rep. Ilhan Omar
A draft obtained exclusively by CNN and updated as recently as last week supposedly declares, "The massive amount of aliens who unlawfully enter the United States each day is a direct threat to the safety and security of our nation and constitutes a national emergency."
"Now, therefore, I, Donald J. Trump, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C 1601, et seq.), hereby declare that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States," it reads.
An unnamed government official told CNN that the White House has identified various sources of funding for the wall, which prompted the shutdown: "$681 million from Treasury forfeiture funds, $3.6 billion in military construction, $3 billion in Pentagon civil works funds, and $200 million in Department of Homeland Security funds."
Such a move, if pursued, would undoubtedly face legal challenges in the courts and from Democrats in Congress, but if Trump's order was allowed to stand, it would mobilize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a wall along the southern border, which would require the federal government to seize private land.
The CNN report, published Thursday night, was met with immediate condemnation.
"It wasn't an emergency last week. It wasn't an emergency when the GOP controlled Congress and the White House. It's not an emergency now," tweeted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). "Trump invented this emergency when Mexico and 70 percent of Americans said no deal."
"Whatever ultimately becomes of Trump's threat, or of the debate over the wall more generally, Congress ought to use this episode as an excuse to revisit the National Emergencies Act--and, more generally, the way in which it delegates these kinds of special powers to the president," Steve Vladeck, a professor at University of Texas School of Law, argued in an op-ed published Thursday by NBC News.