There is less than $1.4 billion in the budget deal the Senate and House approved on Feb. 14 — enough for just 55 miles of new barriers and fencing, significantly less than the 200 miles of wall Trump was hoping to start putting up. In order to accomplish his goal, Trump is reportedly prepared to use his executive authority to gain access to roughly $6.6 billion in Pentagon and Treasury Department funds.

HOW TRUMP’S BORDER WALL WILL BE FUNDED

Trump is already anticipating a legal battle, which will likely test the powers of all three branches of government. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has already said she “may” consider filing a legal challenge to Trump’s call for a national emergency.

“We will have a national emergency, and we will then be sued,” Trump said, adding that the federal appeals courts could well rule against his administration. “Then we’ll end up in the Supreme Court, and hopefully we’ll get a fair shake, and we’ll win at the Supreme Court … just like the [travel] ban.”

WHAT IS A ‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY,’ AND HOW CAN TRUMP USE IT TO FUND A BORDER WALL?

This isn’t the only national emergency active in the U.S.

The president has the power to take such an action — detailed in the National Emergencies Act of 1976 — if he or she believes the nation is “threatened by crisis, exigency, or emergency circumstances (other than natural disasters, war, or near-war situations),” according to a 2007 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. In the past 43 years, presidents have declared at least 58 states of emergency (not including weather-related events).

Currently, there are at least 31 national emergencies in effect. Here’s a running list, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Jimmy Carter (2 national emergencies declared, 1 remains active)

• Blocking Iranian Government Property (November 1979)

Bill Clinton (17 national emergencies declared, 6 remain active)

• Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (November 14, 1994)
• Prohibiting Transactions with Terrorists Who Threaten to Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process (January 1995)
• Prohibiting Certain Transactions with Respect to the Development of Iranian Petroleum Resources (March 1995)
• Blocking Assets and Prohibiting Transactions with Significant Narcotics Traffickers (October 1995)
• Regulation of the Anchorage and Movement of Vessels with Respect to Cuba (March 1996)
• Blocking Sudanese Government Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Sudan (November 1997)

George W Bush (13 national emergencies declared, 11 remain active)

• Blocking Property of Persons Who Threaten International Stabilization Efforts in the Western Balkans (June 2001)
• Continuation of Export Control Regulations (August 2001)
• Declaration of National Emergency by Reason of Certain Terrorist Attacks (September 2001)
• Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Persons who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism (September 2001)
• Blocking Property of Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe (March 2003)
• Protecting the Development Fund for Iraq and Certain Other Property in Which Iraq has an Interest (May 2003)
• Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting the Export of Certain Goods to Syria (May 2004)
• Blocking Property of Certain Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Belarus (June 2006)
• Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (October 2006)
• Blocking Property of Persons Undermining the Sovereignty of Lebanon or Its Democratic Processes and Institutions (August 2007)
• 8 Continuing Certain Restrictions With Respect to North Korea and North Korean Nationals (June 2008)

Barack Obama (12 national emergencies declared, 10 remain active)

• Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in Somalia (April 2010).
• Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Libya (February 2011)
• Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations (July 2011)
• Blocking Property of Persons Threatening the Peace, Security, or Stability of Yemen (May 16, 2012)
• Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine (March 2014)
• Blocking Property of Certain Persons With Respect to South Sudan (April 2014)
• Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Central African Republic (May 2014)
• Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela (March 2015)
• Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities (April 2015)
• Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Burundi (November 2015)

Donald Trump (4 national emergencies declared, 3 currently active)

• Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption (December 2017)
• Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election (September 2018)
• Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Nicaragua (November 2018)

Fox News’ John Roberts, Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-border-wall-other-national-emergencies-currently-in-effect

The post Trump’s border wall joins 31 other national emergencies currently in effect first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

After being rebuffed by the U.S. Congress in his request for $5.7 billion to help build the wall that was a signature 2016 campaign promise, Trump on Friday invoked emergency powers given to the president under a 1976 law. The move, according to the White House, enables Trump to bypass lawmakers and redirect money already appropriated by Congress for other purposes and use it for wall construction.

Peter Shane, a professor at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, said challenges to the emergency declaration could end up as a replay of the legal battle against Trump’s travel ban targeting people from several Muslim-majority nations. The Supreme Court last year upheld the travel ban after lower courts had ruled against Trump, with the justices giving the president deference on immigration and national security issues.

Trump has painted illegal immigration and drug trafficking across the border as a national security threat.

“Courts are reluctant to second-guess the president on matters of national security,” Shane said.

Democrats, state attorneys general and at least one advocacy group have vowed to take the Republican president to court over the declaration.

“I’ll sign the final papers as soon as I get into the Oval Office and we’ll have a national emergency and then we’ll be sued,” Trump said at the White House.

The National Emergencies Act of 1976 has been invoked dozens of times by presidents without a single successful legal challenge. Congress never defined a national emergency in the law.

The legal experts said Trump’s declaration could be challenged on at least two fronts: that there is no genuine emergency and that Trump’s action overstepped his powers because under the U.S. Constitution Congress has authority over federal appropriations, not the president.

Trump made the declaration after asking Congress to appropriate $5.7 billion for wall construction and lawmakers gave him none.

The Supreme Court has a 5-4 conservative majority that includes two justices appointed by Trump, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. Chief Justice John Roberts has emerged as the court’s swing vote, and the decision on the legality of Trump’s action could come down to him.

“The handwriting is on the wall here,” said Steven Schwinn, a professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. “The Supreme Court is almost certain to uphold President Trump’s emergency.”

Legal experts said the 1976 law gives presidents vast discretion. Trump plans to redirect $6.7 billion in federal funds to pay for a wall, money that would come from a U.S. treasury forfeiture fund, a defense counter-drug program and the military construction budget.

“The odds favor the president by a significant majority,” George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley said. “He has the authority to make the declaration and he has the money.”

But the administration’s defense of Trump’s action may not be a smooth ride. Lawsuits could delay the use of funds the president is planning to tap, and legal experts said the bulk of funds may be tied up for years.

Trump is running for re-election next year and a loss would mean his presidency ends in January 2021. It is possible the legal fight over the emergency declaration might not be resolved by then.

“My guess is the money, the significant amount of money, won’t flow before the 2020 election,” Harvard Law School professor Mark Tushnet said.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, and Chuck Schumer, the Republican-led Senate’s top Democrat, said Trump actions “clearly violate the Congress’s exclusive power of the purse.”

Congress is unlikely to muster a veto-proof majority to vote down Trump’s emergency move. The Democratic-led House could try to sue, but courts generally do not allow Congress to litigate after lawmakers fail to legislate, the legal experts said.

States may lead the fight. California Governor Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, both Democrats, said they anticipated they would sue, saying the state would be harmed because Trump’s action could drain money from its drug-fighting efforts, endangering its residents.

One possible advantage for California is that its case likely could at some point go to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has dealt Trump setbacks on previous policies including the travel ban and potentially could impose or uphold an injunction against the emergency declaration.

Legal experts said landowners along the border could sue because they face the imminent threat of land seizure by the federal government to build the wall.

Opponents may have more traction arguing that the president is unlawfully trying to tap funds Congress appropriated for the Pentagon, the experts said. The Defense Department construction money that Trump wants has almost never been used for domestic construction. In addition, Congress required the money be spent supporting military operations, and opponents could argue the border wall fails to qualify.

The post Legal challenges to Trump emergency declaration face uphill battle first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.