Legal Reporter
LA Times
Maura Dolan reports for the LA Times:
Trump may not use military money for border wall, federal appeals court decides
MAURA DOLAN
REPORTING FROM SAN FRANCISCOJuly 3 at 7:50 PM ET
A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld an injunction barring the Trump administration from using military funds to pay for a wall along the southern border.
In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Trump was likely to lose his appeal and the injunction by a district judge should remain in place.
After failing to win funding for the wall from Congress, Trump announced in February that he planned to divert $8.1 billion for the border wall from funds slated for military construction and other Department of Defense operations.
The Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition sued, winning an injunction in late May. The Trump administration asked the 9th Circuit to block that order while the case is on appeal.
In rejecting the administration’s request, the 9th Circuit said using the military funds “violates the constitutional requirement that the executive branch not spend money absent an appropriation from Congress.
The public interest is “best served by respecting the Constitution’s assignment of the power of the purse to Congress,” the 9th Circuit said.
The order was signed by Judges Richard Clifton, appointed by President George W. Bush, and Michelle Friedland, an Obama appointee.
Ninth Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith, appointed by President George W. Bush, dissented.
Copyright © 2019, The Los Angeles Times
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Basically, Trump tried to steal money Congress refused to give him and use it for a bogus political stunt — building a wall for political show that could have no real effect on legitimate law enforcement other than to enrich smugglers and kill some more innocent asylum seekers by forcing them to use smugglers to take them over a more dangerous spot or to tunnel, scale, or break through the wall.
For the record, Judge Randy N. Smith “tanked” on his oath of office and his Constitutional responsibilities to stop such nonsense. Fortunately, Judge Richard Clifton and Judge Michelle Friedland stood up for the Constitution and our right to have a Government that follows its own laws.
Undoubtedly, there will be an appeal, so stay tuned. The Supremes are much more “marshmallowy” when comes to forcing Trump to operate within the Constitution.
PWS
07-03-19