U.S. Supreme Court Supports Diversion of Funds for Border Wall

With five votes in favor and four against, the judges of the country’s highest court approved a ruling that unlocks these funds, previously allocated to the Department of Defense, after the decision of lower instances to freeze them.

This amount is part of the six billion dollars that the Republican leader diverted for the barrier, rejected inside and outside U.S. territory, with his declaration of national emergency for the border area last February.

Trump took that step after Congress refused to grant him the amount demanded (5.7 billion dollars) to build the wall, one of his campaign promises he constantly evades, despite criticism.

In the administration’s opinion, the use of military money is legitimate in the area of the declared emergency in the border area because it is an unforeseen need.

On July 3, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the government’s request to temporarily halt an order from a lower court against the diversion of military funds for the wall.

The use of those resources violates the constitutional requirement that the Executive Branch not spend money without an allocation from Congress, determined a panel of three judges, two in favor and one against the verdict.

Judge Haywood Gilliam, of the Northern District of California, ruled on June 28 that the use of Pentagon resources for this work should be permanently prevented, which he determined in May should be done on a temporary basis.

Due to such decisions, which were left without effect this Friday, the construction of the wall was stopped in places of New Mexico, California, Arizona and Texas.