"WH is firming up plans to redirect unspent federal dollars as a way of funding Trump's wall without taking the dramatic step of invoking a national emergency."
#TuesdayMorning #NoWall
politico.com/story/2019/02/…

2-"Done by executive order, this plan would allow the White House to shift money from different budgetary accounts without congressional approval, circumventing Democrats who refuse to give Trump anything like the $5.7 billion he has demanded. Nor would it require a

3-"controversial emergency declaration. The emerging consensus among acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and top budget officials is to shift money from two Army Corps of Engineers’ flood control projects in Northern California, as well as from disaster relief funds intended for

4-"California and Puerto Rico. The plan will also tap unspent Department of Defense funds for military construction, like family housing or infrastructure for military bases, according to three sources familiar with the negotiations. “There are certain sums of money that are

5-"available to the president, to any president,” Mulvaney said on “Meet the Press” Sunday. “So you comb through the law at the president's request ... And there's pots of money where presidents, all presidents, have access to without a national emergency.” But the strategy is

6-" far from a cure-all for a president with no good options, and it has already sparked debate within the White House. Moving funds by executive order is virtually certain to draw instant court challenges, with opponents, including some powerful members of Congress, arguing the

7-"president is encroaching on the legislative branch’s constitutional power to appropriate funds. Some Trump officials, including those aligned with senior adviser Stephen Miller, have argued internally that the gambit might be even more vulnerable to court challenges than a

8-"national emergency declaration. And in a sign of the political fallout, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee has argued that tapping military construction money would hurt the armed forces’ potential readiness. Until now, Trump officials had focused on the

9-"drawbacks of a possible national emergency declaration. But as the alternative option of moving money by executive order has come into clearer relief ahead of a Feb. 15 deadline for a spending deal with Congress that could avert a new government shutdown, so have the risks of

10-" that alternative option. “You will cause yourself a problem if that money was directed away from any type of project or activity because I guarantee it has some constituency on Capitol Hill.”..A national emergency declaration, however, does not unlock unlimited powers and

11-"would be subject to court challenges. The White House counsel’s office has been studying two statues in detail that Trump could invoke under national emergency circumstances — and both come with problems." ~politico