Nuclear Option: WH Reportedly Preparing National Emergency Order, Over $7 Bil for Wall
Apparently, President Trump hasn’t taken the idea of a national emergency to fund the border wall off the table — and it could be the nuclear option the White House invokes if Congress can’t agree to something the White House is willing to sign off on.
CNN reported Thursday that the draft version of the national emergency includes $7 billion in funding for the wall — more than the $5.7 billion for border security that the White House was originally asking for.
“Trump has not ruled out using his authority to declare a national emergency and direct the Defense Department to construct a border wall as Congress and the White House fight over a deal to end the government shutdown,” CNN reported.
“But while Trump’s advisers remain divided on the issue, the White House has been moving forward with alternative plans that would bypass Congress.”
The draft of the emergency proclamation — which was updated just last week, CNN says — states that the flow of illegal immigrants and criminals who enter America through the southern border presents a danger to the country.
“The massive amount of aliens who unlawfully enter the United States each day is a direct threat to the safety and security of our nation and constitutes a national emergency,” the draft states.
“Now, therefore, I, Donald J. Trump, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C 1601, et seq.), hereby declare that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States.”
The CNN report came as two proposals to end the impasse — one from Republicans and the other from Democrats — failed votes in the Senate.
The Republican version was largely the same as what the president had proposed in a speech on Saturday, allocating $5.7 billion for the wall while giving concessions on immigration issues.
Democrats, meanwhile, proposed a plan which would have kept the partially closed versions of the government open until Feb. 8 while both sides tried to hammer out an agreement. Both proposals fell well short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, according to Fox News.
Lawmakers were still discussing short-term measures to keep the government open — McClatchy D.C. reported that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after the failure of the bills, telling reporters afterwards, “We’re talking.”
However, Trump intimated he was still considering the national emergency route when reporters brought it up.
“I have other alternatives if I have to and I’ll use those alternatives if I have to,” Trump said.
“A lot of people who want this to happen. The military wants this to happen. This is a virtual invasion of our country,” he added.
As for where he’d get the money, there were several alternatives: $3.6 billion set aside for military construction, $3 billion for Department of Defense civil works funds, $681 million in forfeiture funds from the Treasury Department and $200 million in Department of Homeland Security funding, according to one government source.
The plan would likely be tied up in courts for some time were Trump to go through with it, but if the Democrats refuse to negotiate, taking his case to the courts might be a very attractive option.
Either way, it’s a sign that if the Democrats keep up total intransigence — a refusal to pay a single cent for wall construction — Trump may be willing to go nuclear on them. That might be prospect enough to get Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer back to the Oval Office to talk.
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