The House will sue to block President Trump from redirecting federal money to build a southern border wall, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday.
A five-member House panel made up of three Democrats and two Republicans voted to challenge Trump in court over his February declaration of a national emergency, which he used to authorize moving $3.6 billion from a military construction budget to a border wall project.
“The president’s sham emergency declaration and unlawful transfers of funds have undermined our democracy, contravening the vote of the bipartisan Congress, the will of the American people and the letter of the Constitution,” Pelosi said.
“The president’s action clearly violates the Appropriations Clause by stealing from appropriated funds, an action that was not authorized by constitutional or statutory authority. Congress, as Article I — the first branch, co-equal to the other branches — must reassert its exclusive responsibilities reserved by the text of the Constitution and protect our system of checks and balances.”
The House and Senate voted to revoke the emergency declaration, but President Trump vetoed the measure.
Congress failed to override the veto, falling short of the required two-thirds majority in the House.
Trump faces obstacles in court to implementing his border wall funding plan.
The House joins 16 states and several outside groups who have sued the president over the emergency declaration. Trump made the move after Democrats blocked his efforts to secure more federal funding for the border wall in fiscal 2019 spending legislation.
Democrats have insisted the surge of thousands of migrants illegally crossing at the southern border is not a crisis, even though border patrol officials say they are overwhelmed with the increasing numbers.
Supporters of the president’s action, including most Republicans, believe he is authorized to move the money under the National Emergencies Act.
The decision to sue was made by the House Bipartisan Legal Advisory panel, which is made up of Pelosi; Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.; Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C.; Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.
