Navy Times by Gene Johnson 2/28/2020
Judge: Military funds for Washington state’s Naval Base Kitsap can’t go to Trump border wall
President Donald Trump may not divert $89 million intended for a military construction project in Washington state to build his border wall, a U.S. judge in Seattle ruled Thursday.
The U.S. Supreme Court and some other courts have said the administration can begin diverting billions of dollars in military spending to the wall, and work has been done on some sections.
But U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein ruled Thursday that a case brought by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson contains different issues which are not covered by those decisions.
Rothstein found that diverting the money is unlawful because Congress — which has the power of the purse under the Constitution — specifically barred Trump from spending additional money on the wall. The decision was also unlawful because it would take money that Congress appropriated for military construction and use it for domestic law enforcement, she said.
“Congress repeatedly and deliberately declined to appropriate the full funds the President requested for a border wall along the southern border of the United States,†Rothstein wrote.
More:
https://www.navytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/02/28/judge-military-funds-for-washington-states-naval-base-kitsap-cant-go-to-trump-border-wall/
