2. How did the House Judiciary Committee respond? What about House Democrats? If both houses of Congress vote in favor of blocking the emergency claim, what could President Trump then do?
3. How much money is Mr. Trump looking to secure for the wall? From what budgets might this money come?
4. A related interactive states, “President Trump’s plan to divert military construction money to fund a border wall is an unusual use of emergency powers.” How does the interactive give evidence to this claim? What category do most of the previous declarations of emergency have? When was the last time a president declared military action?
5. What did the spending package passed on Feb. 14 by Congress include funding for? What funding requested by the president did it not include? Why did Mr. Trump sign the package into law even though it did not include what he wanted? What did he want to avoid happening again?
Finally, tell us more about what you think:
In the related article, “In Wielding Emergency Powers, Trump Paves a Dangerous Path Forward,” Carl Hulse writes:
Many in both parties now say that the presidential decision to act unilaterally and fund construction for a border wall via an emergency declaration would establish a dangerous new model, encouraging presidents thwarted by Congress to simply cite such a crisis to spend dollars however and wherever they pleased.
“We have a crisis at our southern border, but no crisis justifies violating the Constitution,” said Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida.
Accepting the declaration would represent another weakening of the authority of Congress in a steady ceding of power to the executive branch — a trend that Republicans have said they want to reverse and that they railed against when Mr. Obama used executive orders to act on issues such as immigration and health care.
“As I’ve said many times, I have concerns about the precedent that could be set with the use of emergency action to re-appropriate funds,” said Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican in the Senate.
Do you think President Trump’s emergency declaration designed to secure funding for a wall at the southern border of the United States sets a “dangerous” precedent in regard to the balance of power that exists between the branches of the federal government? Explain.
