Unstoppable Donald Trump

Emergency declaration: Can Trump's solo effort still be stopped?


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It's nine lines. Without further ado, they are demanding that the US President's declaration of emergency be "annulled". The goal of the resolution that the Democrat Joaquín Castro brought to the US House of Representatives on Friday: prevent Donald Trump from dealing with the state of emergency uses linked powers to raise money for the construction of the wall on the border with Mexico by way of congress. 226 Democratic MPs - and allegedly a Republican member as well - support the resolution. It is the first political measure that Trump's opponents take to stop him.

5.7 billion US dollars - that is how much Trump had asked Congress for the construction of the wall. For years, the Republican president has been promoting the idea of ​​stopping illegal immigrants from Mexico and South America by using a heavily secured wall. Something that experts say would have little or no effect on immigration figures, yet at the same time send a big signal among Trump supporters. Because the majority of the Democratic MPs in the House of Representatives do not release this money, the President declared a national emergency on February 15, 2019. This enables him, at least in Trump's view, to reallocate federal funds and thus finance the border wall. Trump's opponents in parliament consider his action to be unconstitutional. The House of Representatives will vote on the resolution on Tuesday.

Since the Democrats currently hold 235 of the 435 seats, it is very likely that it will be passed by a large majority. And then ends up in the Senate. Although Trump's Republicans have a majority there, four votes from the opposing side would be enough for the decision to be passed. Republican Senator Susan Collins from Maine has already announced that she will be voting for the resolution. South Carolina confidante Lindsey Graham told Fox News on Friday that a handful of Republicans are likely to join the Democrats. However, Trump can veto the resolution, and he said he would "one hundred percent" do it. The veto could then only be overruled by a two-thirds majority in both chambers. Such a broad vote against the president is unlikely. Lindsey Graham was accordingly confident that such a majority would not come about.

Politically, however, the Democrats' advance is understandable. Because he is forcing the Republicans to position themselves clearly on Trump's declaration of emergency. In the Grand Old Party there is also unease about the actions of the US President. Mitch McConnell, majority leader in the Senate, had tried for weeks to dissuade Donald Trump from his plans - but he was not convinced.

So far, the Republicans have been able to shift responsibility for the declaration of emergency onto the president. Now they have to choose between their own constitutional concerns and loyalty to Trump. A decision in favor of the president would be tantamount to self-incapacitation. Because sovereignty over the budget - which the President wants to undermine - rests with Congress. With this simple insight, the Democrats put pressure on the other side to stop the president's expansion of power.

Can the state of emergency be stopped legally?

Trump's opponents are also trying to take legal action against the declaration of emergency. This involves both the question of whether the declaration of a state of emergency is justified and who can actually take legal action against it.

The organization Public Citizen has already filed a lawsuit on behalf of three landowners and a nature conservation organization from South Texas because Trump's actions override the principle of separation of powers. According to legal experts, such proceedings have the greatest chance of being approved by the courts, because residents are directly affected. US courts do not judge abstract questions. A plaintiff must have been personally injured in his or her rights to go to court.