White House lawyers are laying the groundwork to declare a national emergency to secure funding for the border wall.
According to Fox News, the White House has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to see if it can divert money to funding the border wall from disaster funding.
CHAD PERGRAM: Fox confirms White House directs Army Corps of Engineers to see if it can divert money to border wall from disaster funding bill to cover wildfires in California, hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico
Fox confirms WH directs Army Corps of Engineers to see if it can divert money to border wall from disaster funding bill to cover wildfires in California, hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 10, 2019
The emergency funds would come from the Pentagon’s budget for disaster relief and construction projects that have previously been approved by Congress but not yet spent.
According to the Washington Post, Trump asked the Army Corps whether construction could begin within 45 days.
White House lawyers are preparing a legal defense — something that the President has anticipated which is why he has been addressing the nation about the crisis on the border and attempting to negotiate with Democrat leaders.
President Trump has the backing of many Republican allies including Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham who called on Trump to use emergency powers to build the wall.
“Speaker Pelosi’s refusal to negotiate on Wall/Barrier funding – even if the government were to be reopened – virtually ends congressional path to fund Wall/Barrier,” Graham said Thursday.
“Time for President Trump to use emergency powers to build Wall/Barrier,” Graham added.
President Trump has done everything possible to negotiate with Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, however; the two Democrat leaders refuse to work with him on border security.
The President made it clear that he would declare a national emergency to secure funding for the border wall if he could not strike a deal with Pelosi and Schumer.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Trump that she wouldn’t even fund the border wall if he reopened the government, which means the Dems will never compromise, even if they get their way.
President Trump told Pelosi “Bye-Bye!”
Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time. I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2019
President Trump traveled to McAllen, Texas Thursday where he suggested that the declaration could happen at any moment.
