Trump Ponders ‘Emergency’ Powers to Build Border Wall
By Washington Times. President Trump said Friday he could declare a national emergency on the border and order his government to build fencing without needing to go to Congress for additional funding.
“I can do it if I want,” he said, adding, “I may do it.”
He said he’s still interested in trying to get a deal done with Congress on funding his border wall plans, but he made clear he hasn’t foreclosed other options for erecting the barrier he promised voters in 2016 would be built and paid for by Mexico.
Mr. Trump last month had raised the prospect of declaring an emergency and asking the Defense Department to construct barriers outside of the normal congressional appropriations process.
The Pentagon at the time said it had not developed those plans, but said it did have legal authority to build a wall if it were deemed part of a counter-drug operation or part of a national emergency. (Read more from “Trump Ponders ‘Emergency’ Powers to Build Border Wall” HERE)
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Will Troops Help Build Trump’s Border Wall? No Additional Deployments Planned Yet
By AZ Central. As a partial federal government shutdown nears its third week, President Donald Trump has refused to budge on the central issue in his dispute with congressional Democrats, funding for his proposed wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
With the debate at a stalemate — Democrats continue to oppose additional money — reports surfaced this week about the possibility of the Trump administration requesting the deployment of additional troops to the border to help build infrastructure.
The troops would help build or upgrade 160 miles of barriers along the Arizona and California borders and would be paid by the Department of Defense, which is unaffected by the shutdown, according to NPR, which cited military sources.
Capt. Bill Speaks, a spokesman for Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, told The Arizona Republic that “no decisions have been made on additional troops to support the Customs and Border Protection mission at the Southwest border.”
However, he added that the “additional support for CBP is something we continue to discuss with (the Department of Homeland Security),” which is directly impacted by the shutdown. But because it is a law-enforcement agency, many of the front-line agents and officers continue working, without pay. (Read more from “Will Troops Help Build Trump’s Border Wall? No Additional Deployments Planned Yet” HERE)
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