An Oakland, Calif., federal judge issued an order Friday blocking the administration from using DOD funds for building key sections of the southern border barrier under President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration, the AP reported.
U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. issued the order halting work on two of the highest-priority sections, one spanning 46 miles in New Mexico and another covering 5 miles in Yuma, Ariz.
Gillian’s ruling argued that redirecting DOD funds for barrier construction was in violation of Congress’s appropriations authority.
“Congress’s ‘absolute’ control over federal expenditures — even when that control may frustrate the desires of the Executive Branch regarding initiatives it views as important — is not a bug in our constitutional system. It is a feature of that system, and an essential one,” Gilliam wrote in his 56-page opinion.
The president pledged over the weekend to file an expedited appeal to overturn what stands as a legal setback of one of his highest priorities.
Gilliam’s ruling only applies to the high-priority barrier sections, but he also wrote it was likely the president wrongly ignored congressional authority by ordering the diversion of DOD funds for any barrier construction.
Army photo by Sgt. Amber Smith