The Trump administration has been delivered another setback via a federal appellate court.
The Court ruled 7-2 that House Democrats could sue the administration over Team Trump’s attempt to skirt the law to get funds for the president’s border wall.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that they can sue the administration over a financing maneuver that a totally separate California-based federal appeals court said was an illegal encroachment of Congress’s power of the purse.
The ruling is viewed as an endorsement of lawmaker’s right to pursue a legal course of action to enforce its authority over federal appropriations. It is unclear what practical effect it would have if the House Democrats ultimately prevail in their lawsuit. It is expected to go back to the US Supreme Court where they have allowed the Trump administration to continue using defense funds amid ongoing litigation, despite the California-based court’s ruling that the maneuver is unconstitutional. Trump used those funds after declaring a “national emergency” on the southern border last year.
Trump has claimed that his wall project has done much to secure the border and reduce illegal immigration. This, despite only three new miles of the wall even built. In addition to that, about 76 miles of the wall has been repaired or replaced along the southern border. In June, Trump visited the border for the first time in a long time. The plan was to celebrate 200 miles of new wall being built. They fell far short of that goal. That didn’t stop the POTUS from bragging, however.
“My administration has done more than any administration in the history to secure our southern border,” Trump bragged when visiting the border. “Our border has never been more secure.”
Trump also attempted to boast about the 84 percent drop in undocumented border crossings within the last year. This statistic may have more to do with the COVID 19 pandemic and the administration’s strong measures to shut down much of the immigration, including turning back refugees. Some critics have called the administration’s policies cruel and inhuman.
In addition to that, critics have pointed out the wall’s flaws, and then last month, a section of it actually blew over and landed in Mexico. Previously, during a visit there, Trump called that part of the wall “virtually impenetrable.”
Trump’s scheme sprang into action after a congressional spending bill allocated about $1.3 billion for border security, which fell far short of the nearly $5 billion Trump claimed was needed to complete the border wall.
Trump then reallocated $2.5 billion in funding that Congress appropriated for defense and military uses, which sparked a plethora of lawsuits.
The issue has still yet to be resolved and most likely will have more battles in the US Supreme Court before everything is settled.
