Swordsmyth
01-26-2019, 04:17 PM
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a paper internally that suggests President Donald Trump may have the authority to use Department of Defense resources to build a wall without obtaining congressional approval or declaring a state of emergency.
CRS, Congress’s in-house research arm, internally published a paper Jan. 10 titled “Can the Department of Defense Build the Border Wall?,” which The Daily Caller News Foundation has obtained. It says (emphasis added):
Another statute that authorizes the Secretary of Defense to assist civilian law enforcement with counterdrug activities may provide some authority for the construction of barriers along the border. 10 U.S.C. § 284 (http://s.bl-1.com/h/cymoG8ps?url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/284) (Section 284) provides that the Secretary of Defense “may provide support for the counterdrug activities or activities to counter transnational organized crime” of any law enforcement agency, including through the “[c]onstruction of roads and fences and installation of lighting to block drug smuggling corridors across international boundaries of the United States.” …
Use of Section 284 would not require a declaration of a national emergency under the NEA. However, the DOD’s Section 284 authority to construct fences appears to extend only to “drug smuggling corridors,” a condition that may limit where DOD could deploy fencing.
“Drug corridors” are not defined in law, according to a congressional aide.
The president has suggested using executive authority as a workaround to the stalemate that led to the partial government shutdown. House Democrats have refused to allocate $5.7 billion Trump requested to build part of a wall along the southern border, and the president has refused to support legislation opening the government that does not include border wall funding. Trump said Jan. 4 that he has considered using (https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/04/trump-emergency-powers-wall/) a “state of emergency” to build the wall. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/11/grassley-trump-emergency-powers/) urged Trump not to declare a state of emergency, expressing concerns about overreach (https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/11/grassley-trump-emergency-powers/) and setting a precedent that Democrats could also use when in power.
But the CRS report suggests that there is another option beyond negotiating with Congress or declaring a national emergency.
https://www.conservativedailynews.com/2019/01/congress-nonpartisan-research-arm-says-trump-could-have-dod-build-a-wall-without-state-of-emergency-or-congressional-approval/
CRS, Congress’s in-house research arm, internally published a paper Jan. 10 titled “Can the Department of Defense Build the Border Wall?,” which The Daily Caller News Foundation has obtained. It says (emphasis added):
Another statute that authorizes the Secretary of Defense to assist civilian law enforcement with counterdrug activities may provide some authority for the construction of barriers along the border. 10 U.S.C. § 284 (http://s.bl-1.com/h/cymoG8ps?url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/284) (Section 284) provides that the Secretary of Defense “may provide support for the counterdrug activities or activities to counter transnational organized crime” of any law enforcement agency, including through the “[c]onstruction of roads and fences and installation of lighting to block drug smuggling corridors across international boundaries of the United States.” …
Use of Section 284 would not require a declaration of a national emergency under the NEA. However, the DOD’s Section 284 authority to construct fences appears to extend only to “drug smuggling corridors,” a condition that may limit where DOD could deploy fencing.
“Drug corridors” are not defined in law, according to a congressional aide.
The president has suggested using executive authority as a workaround to the stalemate that led to the partial government shutdown. House Democrats have refused to allocate $5.7 billion Trump requested to build part of a wall along the southern border, and the president has refused to support legislation opening the government that does not include border wall funding. Trump said Jan. 4 that he has considered using (https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/04/trump-emergency-powers-wall/) a “state of emergency” to build the wall. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/11/grassley-trump-emergency-powers/) urged Trump not to declare a state of emergency, expressing concerns about overreach (https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/11/grassley-trump-emergency-powers/) and setting a precedent that Democrats could also use when in power.
But the CRS report suggests that there is another option beyond negotiating with Congress or declaring a national emergency.
https://www.conservativedailynews.com/2019/01/congress-nonpartisan-research-arm-says-trump-could-have-dod-build-a-wall-without-state-of-emergency-or-congressional-approval/