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Trump's coup de grâce arrives as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prepares to pressure the GOP this week with a package of bills to open silo agencies and showcase that Democrats can provide a credible government.
The Senate will only act on an agreement that Trump will sign. The parties remain as distant as ever as the closure of the city approaches in a third week with hundreds of thousands of unpaid civil servants.
"We are talking about a national emergency having a national emergency – just read the newspapers," Trump told reporters Sunday at the White House.
Trump's threat is characteristic of the president who often tries to escape a crisis by stirring up even greater controversy, hoping to unbalance his enemies and hide his own vulnerable position.
But such a statement could trigger a political and legal storm when it goes away, thus accentuating the confrontation between the wall and the wall. immigration policies into a constitutional duel over executive power.
Discussions held this weekend with congressional staff and led by Vice President Mike Pence failed to make significant progress toward ending the stalemate. . Trump is asking for more than $ 5 billion in funding before agreeing to reopen the government. Democrats have offered about $ 1.5 billion for border security, but no taxpayer dollars for a wall, which the president promised Mexico to pay.
Both parties seem to want to deepen an exacerbated confrontation as it is the first test of will in the new era of divided government after Democrats took control of the House of Representatives last week.
"This judgment could end tomorrow, but could last as long – it really depends on the Democrats." Trump said Sunday.
But Democrats refuse to talk about Trump's wall until the government remains partially closed.
19659002] "It is not necessary to close this government as long as we deliberate on the future of any fence, be it a fence or a wall," said Dick Durbin, Democrat Senate Whip, to "Face the Nation" on CBS.
"This is the first president of history to have closed his own government," he said.
L & # 39; extent of disagreement was reflected in divergent accounts of unsuccessful attempts to negotiate an agreement from either side.
Source at Sunday meeting involving Pence, White House employees and congressional aides told Manu CNN's Raju that it's not there There was no discussion of a dollar amount that could help break the stalemate.
And a Democratic source aware of the talks said that the administration could not provide complete accounting of how Trump would spend his billions of dollars as requested.
A House GOP A management aid said: "The Democrats received what they had asked for, namely a detailed list of the administration's proposals on border security, including the wall and other border protection measures. "
The final closures
Given Trump's volubility, it's not always easy to judge whether his threats – c & rsquo; Is like declaring a national emergency to fund the wall – these are bargaining tactics, serious concerns or just ideas that arise at the height of the moment.
But a bold claim from the presidential power would go in the direction of its tendency to test the limits. from his executive power his impatience with constitutional constraints.
The opinions in Washington are divided on whether Trump really has the power to break into the wall – despite congressional opposition.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that Trump could not "execute" his "threatening speech"
"If Harry Truman failed to nationalize the steel industry in wartime, this president did not have the power to declare urgency and build a multi-billion dollar wall at the border. C & # 39, so is a non-strategist, "said Schiff.
But the representative of the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith, was asked if Trump had such authority on "This Week" on ABC.
"Unfortunately, the short answer is yes," he said, persuaded that Trump could declare an emergency in order to use Defense Ministry funds in a construction project, as was the case in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But Smith also warned, "I think the president would be open to a court challenge saying," Where is the urgency? "
White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders , fell into the trap when she was arrested in "Fox News Sunday" following the allegation that 4,000 known or suspected terrorists had come to the United States and that the most vulnerable point of access was the southern border.
In fact, according to the Department of Homeland Security, this figure represents people prevented from traveling or entering the United States, often at airports and not necessarily referring to the southern border.
If Trump Does It If his threat was to declare a national emergency, he would be on disputed ground
.
And he would again be accused of using the army to achieve his own goals, as he had been when he had sent troops into the border region. last year.
American law effectively gives a president to its president. the power, in the event of a national emergency, to postpone military construction projects that are not essential for national defense and to apply resources to civil works meeting this criterion .
But this power is generally considered limited to war. or true national crisis. Trump's statement would likely face a court challenge on the grounds that the situation at the border did not meet this sudden possibility. The judiciary and the Congress also have the right to challenge the president's definition of national emergency.
Such a power play would also occur at a time when we were already worried about the President's impulsive direction.
The constraints on Trump are mitigated. by the departure of moderate influences in his government, as the former Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
He is currently served by an Acting Defense Secretary, an Acting Attorney General, an Acting White House Chief of Staff and a White House Law Office is considered a lack of staff.
It is possible that such assistants do not have the authority or the desire to challenge the legality or wisdom of the acts of the president.
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