Supreme Court allows border wall spending in battle between President Donald Trump and liberal opponents
WASHINGTON ? The Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Trump can use $2.5 billion in military funding to begin building a portion of his long-sought wall along the nation's southern border.
The high court's order temporarily settles just one of several skirmishes between the Trump administration and House Democrats, "blue" states led by California, and environmental groups over border wall funds.
The court's five conservative justices lifted an injunction against the border wall spending that had been imposed by a federal district court judge in California and affirmed by a federal appeals court. The injunction blocked spending while the lawsuit challenging it remains pending at the appeals court.
The five-member majority said in a brief order that the challengers appear to "have no cause of action" to review the Defense Department's authority to move up to $4 billion between accounts.
The four liberal justices said they would have denied the spending while the lawsuit works its way through the courts. One of them, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, would have allowed preliminary planning but not the appropriation of funds.
Instead, Breyer said, the court majority allowed construction to start on a barrier that could "cause irreparable harm to the environment and to respondents.... The government?s only response to this claim of irreparable harm is that, if respondents ultimately prevail, the border barrier may be taken down."
President Trump hailed the action within minutes of the high court's announcement. "Big WIN for Border Security and the Rule of Law!" he tweeted.
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-donald-trumps-emergency-spending/1799514001/
WASHINGTON ? The Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Trump can use $2.5 billion in military funding to begin building a portion of his long-sought wall along the nation's southern border.
The high court's order temporarily settles just one of several skirmishes between the Trump administration and House Democrats, "blue" states led by California, and environmental groups over border wall funds.
The court's five conservative justices lifted an injunction against the border wall spending that had been imposed by a federal district court judge in California and affirmed by a federal appeals court. The injunction blocked spending while the lawsuit challenging it remains pending at the appeals court.
The five-member majority said in a brief order that the challengers appear to "have no cause of action" to review the Defense Department's authority to move up to $4 billion between accounts.
The four liberal justices said they would have denied the spending while the lawsuit works its way through the courts. One of them, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, would have allowed preliminary planning but not the appropriation of funds.
Instead, Breyer said, the court majority allowed construction to start on a barrier that could "cause irreparable harm to the environment and to respondents.... The government?s only response to this claim of irreparable harm is that, if respondents ultimately prevail, the border barrier may be taken down."
President Trump hailed the action within minutes of the high court's announcement. "Big WIN for Border Security and the Rule of Law!" he tweeted.
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-donald-trumps-emergency-spending/1799514001/
