Tag: fake Trump national emergency

Senators take bipartisan step toward blocking Trump’s Saudi arms sales

Senators are ramping up their efforts to block President Trump’s emergency arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies.

Lawmakers in both parties are feeling a sense of urgency to respond to Trump’s use of executive powers before the weapons are delivered to Riyadh and after he flirted with declaring yet another emergency, this time for tariffs on Mexican goods.

During the past week, senators introduced 22 resolutions — one for each sale — that would block the deals, an unprecedented congressional move following White House approval of emergency arms sales.

View the complete June 9 article by Rebecca Kheel on The Hill website here.

16 states sue Trump over his border wall national emergency

A coalition of 16 Democratic attorneys general, led by Xavier Becerra in California, filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s move last week to invoke emergency powers to access more money to build wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Details: The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California — whose judges have ruled against other Trump administration policies in the past — said that Trump does not have the power to circumvent Congress and divert funds for the construction of the wall. It said the legislative branch controls government spending and that Trump’s move is unconstitutional.

View the February 18 article by Khorri Atkinson on the Axios website here.

Trump raged at White House staff over wall funding before announcing emergency: WSJ

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal posted a behind-the-scenes deep dive into President Trump’s signature issue, a wall along the United States’ southern border. In the story, written by Michael Bender, Trump emerges as an angry and unprepared figure, often yelling at staffers who failed, in the President’s estimation.

“Who the f— put that in my request?” Mr. Trump shouted in one testy 2017 exchange related to funding for the wall, according to Bender’s story.

The angry comment was directed at Marc Short, then Trump’s legislative affairs director, while John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, was silent in the room, per Bender. The long read further pointed out that the various failures in getting the wall started the past few years may be the fault of Trump himself, who failed to appoint a dedicated point person on the wall, despite the barrier being as his signature policy initiative.

View the complete February 16 article from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Judiciary Committee Launches Probe Of Trump’s ‘Emergency’

That was fast.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), announced that they’re launching an “immediate investigation” into the national emergency declaration Trump made on Friday, which was intended to allow him to go over Congress’ head and raid money from other areas of the federal government to fund his needless border wall.

“We believe your declaration of an emergency shows a reckless disregard for the separation of powers and your own responsibilities under our constitutional system,” Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee wrote in a letter to Trump on Friday afternoon.

View the complete February 16 article by Emily Singer with The American Independent on the National Memo web site here.

Democrats could sue if Trump declares national emergency over wall, Hoyer says

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., applauds for reporters who used to attend his press briefings as minority leader, during his first briefing of the 116th Congress as majority leader. Credit: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call

Majority leader says technology, more personnel at border would be more effective than barrier

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Democratic leadership has not yet discussed what their reaction would be if President Donald Trump were to follow through on his threat to declare a national emergency on the border to build his wall, but he said a lawsuit is certainly a possibility.

Hoyer reiterated Democrats’ opposition to a border wall and said they’re not really interested in alternative barriers either. He said experts have said neither a wall nor fencing is what’s really needed at the border but rather technology, drones and more personnel.

Democrats and Republicans remain at an impasse over border security funding and seem unlikely to reach a compromise soon to reopen the government, which has been partially shut down now for 18 days.

View the complete January 8 article by Lindsey McPherson on The Roll Call website here.

President Trump threatened to declare a national emergency to get his wall. Can he do that?

President Trump at the White House on Thursday. Credit: Jabin Botsford, The Washington Post

This time, President Trump is right about the law.

As the partial government shutdown entered its third week, Trump announced Friday he is flirting with the idea of declaring a national emergency and circumventing Congress to begin construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

“I can do it if I want,” Trump said. And legally speaking, he can.

View the complete January 7 article by Deanna Paul on The Washington Post website here.