The Trump administration does not have the authority to use military funding to pay for construction of a border wall, a federal appeals court panel ruled on Friday.
In a 2-1 ruling, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel found that diverting $2.5 billion Congress had appropriated for the military violated the Constitution and is unlawful.
The executive branch “lacked independent constitutional authority to authorize the transfer of funds,” the ruling said. “These funds were appropriated for other purposes, and the transfer amounted to ‘drawing funds from the Treasury without authorization by statute and thus violating the Appropriations Clause.’ Therefore, the transfer of funds here was unlawful.”
The decision upheld a ruling by a federal judge in California who last year found that the Trump administration’s funding scheme was against the law. A coalition of states led by California had filed suit to block the move.
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Article URL : https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/appeals-court-rules-funding-trump-border-wall-construction-unlawful-n1232287