The House Judiciary Committee will investigate President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the border, citing his statement Friday, “I didn’t need to do this, but I would rather do it much faster.”
Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and fellow Democrats have requested a hearing with Department of Justice officials and White House counsel, writing in a letter to the president, “We believe your declaration of an emergency shows a reckless disregard for the separation of powers and your own responsibilities under our constitutional system.”
“The House Judiciary Committee is commencing an immediate investigation into this matter, which raises both serious constitutional and statutory issues,” the letter signed by Nadler and six other House Democrats said.
Trump declared the emergency Friday, citing crime and violence, to access funds to build his promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats said Trump’s statistics were “incorrect and unsubstantiated.”
“There is no national emergency at the southern border,” they said.
Nadler indicated Thursday that an investigation was coming, calling the planned action “a gross abuse of power that cannot be tolerated.”
