National Emergency Will Be Blocked By Courts Temporarily, DOJ Warns White House, According ABC News
The Justice Department has warned the White House a national emergency declaration is nearly certain to be blocked by the courts on, at least, a temporary basis, preventing the immediate implementation of the president’s plan to circumvent Congress and build the wall using his executives powers, ABC News has learned.
However, a senior White House official told ABC News that the administration is confident it could ultimately win the case on appeal.
Lawyers at the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and at the Pentagon have been working for weeks to iron out different options the president would have to obtain funds for his border wall.
By declaring a national emergency at the border, the president could potentially free up billions of dollars to begin work on construction of a southern border wall. Much of that money would be pulled from the Department of Defense.
President Donald Trump is expected to end weeks of bitter negotiations and sign a funding bill that would keep the government open, but not fund his border wall. The White House has said he will use executive powers to fund a wall instead.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
