White House moves forward with wall funding despite lawsuits

White House moves forward with wall funding despite lawsuits

Washington: The White House is moving forward with plans to shift existing federal funds to pay for construction of a wall on the southern border, a senior administration official said. In the face of several lawsuits challenging US President Donald Trump’s authority to declare a national emergency to reallocate billions of dollars toward a border wall, the White House plans to first draw from the Defence Department’s drug interdiction program and the Treasury Department’s asset forfeiture funds before moving to divert military construction funds, the official said.

Unlike the first two pots of money, the latter can only be accessed through a national emergency declaration, which is now the focus of several lawsuits, reports CNN. While the administration has not yet been enjoined from accessing those funds, the White House is bracing for the possibility that a federal court could issue an injunction on accessing the military construction funds as a result of the lawsuits. The White House did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. (IANS)

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