⁍ The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal by President Donald Trump’s administration of a ruling that he overstepped his constitutional powers.


⁍ At issue is the legality of the president’s decision, after Congress refused to appropriate money he sought for the wall.


⁍ Democrats have called the wall immoral, ineffective and expensive.


– The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by President Trump’s administration against a ruling that it overstepped its constitutional powers by diverting military funds to pay for his promised wall along the US-Mexico border. At issue is the legality of the president’s decision, after Congress refused to appropriate money he sought for the wall, to shift other funds already provided by lawmakers for other purposes. The Justice Department appealed a lower court’s June 26 decision that Trump’s administration lacked the authority to shift the military funds toward the border project because the so-called Appropriations Clause of the US Constitution exclusively grants the power of the purse to Congress. ‘We look forward to making the same case before the Supreme Court and finally putting a stop to the administration’s unconstitutional power grab,’ said Dror Ladin, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the case on behalf of other advocacy groups, per Reuters. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment. The Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote last year lifted Gilliam’s injunction, allowing the project to move forward while the litigation continued. The San Francisco-based 9th US Court of Appeals subsequently ruled 2-1 on June 26 that Trump’s diversion of funds was unlawful because he lacked constitutional authority to authorize such a transfer. The funding transfers have enabled the administration to build more than 100 miles of fencing in areas identified by the Department of Homeland Security as drug-smuggling corridors, Justice Department lawyers said in a court filing.



Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-court-trump-wall/us-supreme-court-to-hear-trump-appeal-of-ruling-against-border-wall-funds-idUSKBN2741U2