President Donald Trump has made it known over the past week that, should Democrats continue to refuse to negotiate with him on providing funding for border wall construction to end the ongoing partial government shutdown, he has the right to declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and obtain previously appropriated funds for other things to use for the border wall instead.
It had even been suggested in recent days that the Trump administration might consider using unspent disaster relief funds to pay for the border wall, but that plan appears to have been dropped from consideration following substantial bipartisan backlash to the idea.
Considering an unpopular option
The Washington Examiner reported that White House officials had floated the idea to various reporters on Thursday that billions of dollars appropriated to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the purpose of disaster relief — such as hurricane relief in Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico, and wildfire relief in California — could be shifted to fund border wall construction.
However, just a day later on Friday, Trump told reporters that he was, at least as of now, “not looking” to declare a national emergency with regard to the southern border.
Meanwhile, a powerful ally in Congress stepped forward to try and end the wild speculation among the media and others that Trump was about to raid disaster relief funding to get money for the wall.
Republican Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, ranking member on the important House Ways and Means Committee, linked to one such media report and tweeted Thursday evening: “I’ve spoken directly with the White House. Absolutely not true.”
I’ve spoken directly with the White House. Absolutely not true.
.@realDonaldTrump committed to border security/ will not back down until adequate $$ are secured. Fully supports Corps funding to help Harvey communities rebuild/prevent future flooding. https://t.co/drYkYP9Y6K— Rep. Kevin Brady (@RepKevinBrady) January 11, 2019
Previously appropriated and unspent funds
The Examiner went on to report that a number of elected Republicans, including members of Congress and governors from states impacted by recent natural disasters, also spoke out against the idea floated by the White House — and it seems their message was received.
If Trump were to proceed with the plan to utilize unspent disaster relief funding for the border wall, he would most likely tap a pool of about $13.9 billion that remains from a February 2018 appropriation for the Army Corps of Engineers, money that has yet to be spent or even obligated toward any specific crisis or disaster.
However, while doing so would technically be a legal and sound avenue to fund the border wall, it would nevertheless create poor optics for the president, grant ammunition to his detractors to use against him, and set a precedent that future presidents may seize upon to use un-obligated pools of appropriated funds as a “slush fund” to pay for whatever particular “crisis” they wanted to deal with without congressional authorization.
[show_poll poll_id=1256]
In all likelihood, Trump will refrain from using disaster relief funding to pay for border wall construction.
Instead, he has made it abundantly clear that he is ready and willing to negotiate a compromise deal with Congressional Democrats to obtain the necessary funding through the appropriations process.
If Democrats don’t want to see this idea of using disaster funding for the border wall, they ought to get back to Washington as soon as possible and actually work out a deal with the president so he won’t feel like he has no other choice but to elevate this to emergency level.
1,211 Responses
Hi just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same results.|
After looking over a few of the articles on your site, I seriously appreciate your technique of blogging. I book-marked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Please visit my web site too and let me know how you feel.
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your blog? My website is in the very same niche as yours and my visitors would certainly benefit from a lot of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Many thanks!|
Hi there, I think your website could be having internet browser compatibility problems. When I look at your site in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping issues. I simply wanted to give you a quick heads up! Apart from that, excellent site!
After I initially commented I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there a means you can remove me from that service? Thanks a lot!
Do you have any video of that? I’d love to find out some additional information.|
Great information. Lucky me I discovered your site by accident (stumbleupon). I have book marked it for later!|
I’m no longer sure where you’re getting your information, but good topic. I must spend a while learning more or understanding more. Thank you for magnificent information I used to be searching for this information for my mission.|
Hey very interesting blog!|
Keep this going please, great job!|
I could not resist commenting. Very well written!
Excellent post. I was checking constantly this blog and I am inspired! Very useful info specifically the remaining part 🙂 I deal with such information much. I was seeking this particular information for a very lengthy time. Thank you and good luck. |
This is very interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I have joined your rss feed and look forward to seeking more of your great post. Also, I have shared your website in my social networks!|
It’s very trouble-free to find out any matter on net as compared to textbooks, as I found this article at this web site.|
Currently it sounds like Expression Engine is the preferred blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?|
What’s up to every one, the contents present at this website are genuinely awesome for people knowledge, well, keep up the nice work fellows.|
This excellent website certainly has all of the information I wanted concerning this subject and didn’t know who to ask. |
Very good write-up. I absolutely appreciate this site. Stick with it!|
Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your article seem to be running off the screen in Safari. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know. The layout look great though! Hope you get the problem fixed soon. Many thanks|
I was curious if you ever considered changing the structure of your website? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 images. Maybe you could space it out better?|
Hi my loved one! I wish to say that this article is awesome, nice written and include almost all important infos. I would like to look extra posts like this .|
I’d like to thank you for the efforts you have put in penning this blog. I really hope to view the same high-grade content from you later on as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own, personal site now ;)|
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you writing this article and also the rest of the website is very good.
I am regular visitor, how are you everybody? This article posted at this site is in fact pleasant.|
It’s awesome to pay a visit this web page and reading the views of all mates on the topic of this post, while I am also keen of getting know-how.|
Your style is unique compared to other folks I’ve read stuff from. Thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this blog.
When I originally commented I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I recieve four emails with the exact same comment. Perhaps there is a way you are able to remove me from that service? Appreciate it!
You’ve made some decent points there. I checked on the net for additional information about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this website.
I absolutely love your blog.. Very nice colors & theme. Did you build this web site yourself? Please reply back as I’m trying to create my very own site and want to find out where you got this from or what the theme is called. Thank you!
I don’t know if it’s just me or if everyone else encountering issues with your site. It looks like some of the written text on your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please provide feedback and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This might be a issue with my web browser because I’ve had this happen before. Thank you|
Great info. Lucky me I found your blog by chance (stumbleupon). I’ve book marked it for later!
Aw, this was an extremely nice post. Finding the time and actual effort to produce a very good article… but what can I say… I hesitate a lot and don’t seem to get anything done.