Congress is suing Trump for stealing money to build his wall

Trump may be going over Congress’ head to steal money from other projects to fund his unnecessary border wall — but Congress isn’t giving up without a fight.

Trump recently vetoed a measure from Congress that officially overturned his fake declaration of a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border. Congress passed this bill because there was clearly no emergency, and because Trump was clearly trying to circumvent Congress’ authority over federal spending.

Now, House leaders have decided to file a lawsuit to challenge that emergency declaration — setting up another court battle over one of Trump’s impulsive decisions.

“The president’s action clearly violates the appropriations clause by stealing from appropriated funds, an action that was not authorized by constitutional or statutory authority,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement after House leaders voted Thursday to file the lawsuit.

The vote was authorized by the House’s Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, which includes the five members of House leadership: speaker, majority leader, minority leader, majority whip, and minority whip.

Given that Democrats hold the majority, three of the five members of the group are Democrats. And all three Democratic leaders voted to authorize the lawsuit, while the two Republicans — Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) — voted against it.

The lawsuit will argue that Trump’s attempt to secure billions of dollars in funding that Congress already appropriated to other priorities is a violation of the Appropriations Cause of the Constitution, which gives Congress — not the president — the power to decide how federal funds are spent.

“The House will once again defend our democracy and our Constitution, this time in the courts,” Pelosi said. “No one is above the law or the Constitution, not even the president.”

This is not the first lawsuit filed against Trump’s fake emergency; others who have sued include 16 U.S. states and the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

Trump has given these plaintiffs plenty of ammunition to use against his declaration in court. In the speech announcing the emergency declaration, Trump actually admitted he was only issuing it because he didn’t get the wall funding he wanted from Congress.

“I went through Congress and made a deal … but I’m not happy with it,” Trump said.

He added that he “didn’t need to” declare an emergency, but that he “just want to get it [the wall] done faster, that’s all.”

You can bet that will show up in the House lawsuit.

Trump’s fake emergency is not the only rash decision he’s made in a fit of rage after Congress refused to give him billions for his racist campaign promise to build the wall.

Trump also recently threatened to close the entire U.S.-Mexico border — which experts said could cripple the U.S. economy, especially the auto industry.

Trump seemingly backed away from that threat on Thursday, after multiple business leaders and Republicans cautioned Trump about the massive damage such a closure could inflict.

However, knowing Trump’s reckless and reactive personality, it may only be a matter of time before something sets him off again.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.