Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration to Use Defense Funds for US/Mexico Border Wall

On Friday, the Supreme Court granted a stay of a lower-court ruling that had barred the U.S. government from spending $2.5 billion in Pentagon funds to extend President Trump’s promised wall along the U.S./Mexico border.  The justices were divided along ideological lines: The court’s five more conservative justices voted to grant the government’s request, while the court’s four more liberal justices would not have allowed construction to go forward. Justice Breyer filed an opinion dissenting in part from the stay.

Amy Howe and Steve Vladeck on SCOTUSBlog discuss the Supreme Court order.  Josh Gerstein on Politico also covers the order and offers background.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer released the following statement following the Supreme Court ruling: 

“It’s a sad day when the president is cheering a decision that may allow him to steal funds from our military to pay for an ineffective and expensive wall for which he promised Mexico would foot the bill. This is a deeply regrettable and nonsensical decision and flies in the face of the will of Congress and the Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, which our founders established in the Constitution. As litigation continues, I hope that the courts ultimately reach the correct decision that the president doesn’t have the authority to build his ineffective and expensive wall.”

KJ