Democrats to sue Trump over border emergency

WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives will mount a legal challenge against President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S. southern border, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Thursday. The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, consisting of the top House leaders, voted along party lines to authorize the lawsuit. Democrats say the president exceeded his authority by declaring a national emergency to get access to more money for security at the U.S.-Mexico border than Congress authorized.

“The president’s action clearly violates the Appropriations Clause by stealing from appropriated funds, an action that was not authorized by constitutional or statutory authority,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Both chambers of Congress voted to end the national emergency, with Democrats decrying the president’s stance on illegal immigration and some Republicans voicing concerns that the president may have gone outside his constitutional bounds. Trump issued the first veto of his presidency in response, and the House could not garner enough votes to override him.

Several other organizations have filed lawsuits challenging Trump’s border plans.

Trump last week threatened to shut down the southern border entirely if Mexico didn’t stem the flow of illegal immigrants. On Thursday he said he would instead try the “less drastic measure” of adding a 25 percent tariff on cars from Mexico if the country’s government did not stem the flow of illegal drugs across the border in the next year.