Federal judge blocks Trump from using $3.6 billion Pentagon funds for border wall

[Elderberry]

American Military News by Ryan Morgan 12/11/2019

A federal judge in Texas has handed down another setback in President Donald Trump’s effort to build a wall along the border with Mexico on Tuesday.

Judge David Briones of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas has ruled the Trump administration cannot use military construction funds to build the wall, CNN reported.

The funds at stake in this latest legal setback include the $3.6 billion set out by Defense Secretary Mark Esper in September. The funds were set out to fund 11 border wall projects, totaling 175 miles of construction.

The $3.6 billion funding allotment is one of two funding allotments the Trump administration chose to divert to wall construction in a February national emergency declaration. Another $2.5 billion in Pentagon funds was also pulled in for wall funding and despite past legal challenges, the Supreme Court in July ruled those funds could be used for the prescribed wall construction.

More: https://americanmilitarynews.com/2019/12/federal-judge-blocks-trump-from-using-3-6-billion-pentagon-funds-for-border-wall/

[Fishrrman]

Didn't the U.S. Supreme Court already rule on this?

Hopefully this will be "appealed upwards", and quickly.

[skeeter]

Overturned with prejudice.

[Cyber Liberty]

Briones again?

[libertybele]

Didn't the U.S. Supreme Court already rule on this?

Hopefully this will be "appealed upwards", and quickly.

Apparently so.

https://www.conservativereview.com/news/judge-puts-injunction-border-wall-scotus-already-ruled-theres-no-standing/

[Cyber Liberty]

Apparently so.

https://www.conservativereview.com/news/judge-puts-injunction-border-wall-scotus-already-ruled-theres-no-standing/

So he disobeyed a writ from SCOTUS.  Why does this not surprise me.

[Elderberry]

https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-blocks-trumps-plan-to-use-3-6-billion-in-military-funds-for-border-wall/

El Paso County and the advocacy group Border Network for Human Rights had asked the judge for a nationwide ban on the government paying for border barriers with funds originally meant for counter-drug programs or military construction projects.

The plaintiffs did not get everything they wanted with Tuesday’s permanent injunction, which only blocks the use of Defense Department money originally meant for military construction activities. The order does not prohibit the government from diverting $2.5 billion in counter-drug money toward the wall project, which the Supreme Court in July allowed to continue as separate litigation plays out.

Briones found the Texas plaintiffs’ argument against the use of that separate $2.5 billion “unviable.”

Still, the plaintiffs hailed the injunction as a victory.

“I think anytime you stop the president from abusing his powers and also stop him from using $3.6 billion of the taxpayers’ money for an unlawful purpose, it’s a pretty big win for Democracy,” Kristy Parker, an attorney with Protect Democracy and co-counsel for the plaintiffs, said.

The Justice Department said it will appeal the injunction. The government has also filed an appeal to the Fifth Circuit of the judge’s October ruling in the case.

[txradioguy]

So he disobeyed a writ from SCOTUS.  Why does this not surprise me.

Because Liberals only adhere to SCOTUS rulings when they further the Liberal agenda.

[bigheadfred]

So he disobeyed a writ from SCOTUS.  Why does this not surprise me.

When the shock wears off the surprise will hit you. So, you know, be ready.

[Cyber Liberty]

When the shock wears off the surprise will hit you. So, you know, be ready.

Voice of experience? 

[Elderberry]

Judge stymies Trump's border wall by invoking GOP law targeting Obama

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/14/judge-trump-border-wall-obama-084540

Politico by DAVID ROGERS 12/14/2019

President Donald Trump’s border wall is facing a surprising new legal hurdle down in Texas: an obscure legislative provision crafted by House Republicans in 2014 when the GOP was targeting then-President Barack Obama’s budget powers.

The amendment, carried forward into current law, has resurfaced with a vengeance in El Paso, Texas. U.S District Court Judge David Briones has been quoting back its words in a series of rulings against Trump’s decision to take $3.6 billion from military construction projects to expedite his wall.

As first adopted, the Republican language specifically prohibited Obama from taking any step to “eliminate or reduce funding for any program, project, or activity as proposed in the President’s budget request” until it's cleared with Congress.

More at link.