After signing a government funding bill that provides $1.375 billion for a barrier with Mexico, President Donald Trump announced a national emergency on Friday, Feb. 15, that would allow him to draw $8 billion from the just-passed bill and other existing federal accounts to build the wall.
Does the president have the legal authority to declare a national emergency, and order the military to build a wall between Mexico and the United States? Does he have the constitutional authority to spend money on a wall that Congress hasn’t specifically allocated?
Over the past several weeks, HLS scholars have shared their viewpoints, examined the political landscape and addressed the Constitutional issues that will now be litigated in federal courts across the country. Here is a selection of their articles and op-eds.