.MaddowBlog: Appeals court: Trump can't raid Pentagon budget for 'wall' funds
The executive branch"lacked independent constitutional authority to authorize the transfer of funds," Judge Sidney R. Thomas wrote for the majority."These funds were appropriated for other purposes, and the transfer amounted to 'drawing funds from the Treasury without authorization by statute and thus violating the Appropriations Clause.' Therefore, the transfer of funds here was unlawful.
The same ruling noted that Trump"has long supported the construction of a border wall on the southern border between the United States and Mexico. Since the President took office in 2017, however, Congress has repeatedly declined to provide the amount of funding requested by the President." In other words, lawmakers have the"power of the purse" -- a phrase repeatedly referenced in today's ruling -- and the White House can't change this because of his impatience with Congress saying no to him.
Though it wasn't explicitly mentioned by the appellate bench, it probably didn't help matters that Trump stepped on his own legal defense. It was, after all, last year when the president early declared a national emergency at the border, effectively admitting at the time that there was no emergency, and he was raiding Defense funds for the sake of convenience.
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