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Construction workers are seen next to heavy machinery while working on a new border wall in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, seen from the Mexican side of the border at San Jeronimo, on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, April 23, 2018.
Jose Luis Gonzalez | Reuters
A US federal judge on Monday rejected a Democrats' complaint in the House of Representatives who was seeking to block President Donald Trump's plan to divert funds to help build a border wall.
District Court Judge Trevor McFadden of the District of Columbia stated that the House lacked the legal capacity to sue Trump for using money to build a wall at the US border. Mexican, which Congress had used for other purposes.
"Although the Constitution confers many powers on members of the House, it does not give them the right to bring executive power to justice by claiming a dilution of the legislative authority of Congress." therefore not competent to hear the requests of the House and will reject his petition, "McFadden wrote.
House Democrats said that diverting funds violates the doctrine of separation of powers set out in the US Constitution.
The Ministry of Justice applauded the decision.
"The court rightly ruled that the House of Representatives could not ask the judiciary to take sides in political disputes and could not use the federal courts to accomplish through litigation what it could not realize using the tools that the Constitution gives Congress, "said a spokesman for the ministry in a statement. declaration.
A spokeswoman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Democrats were reviewing the decision and assessing the possibility of appeal.
The decision contrasts with a May 24 ruling by US judge Haywood Gilliam Jr., who issued a preliminary injunction banning the use of $ 1 billion in Defense Department funds out of a total of $ 6.7 billion. dollars that Trump wants to divert to the wall of the border.
Gilliam, in Oakland, Calif., On May 30, rejected the government's efforts to begin construction of the wall while it was appealing to a superior court.
In February, after a long political battle and the closure of the government, Congress approved $ 1.38 billion for the construction of a "main pedestrian fence" along the border in southeastern Texas , well below Trump's requirements.
To get this extra money, Trump declared a national emergency and his administration announced plans to divert $ 601 million from a Treasury confiscation fund, $ 2.5 billion for anti-trafficking programs Department of Defense and $ 3.6 billion worth of military construction projects.
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