美国国家公共电台 NPR Emergency Declaration For Border Wall Could Tap Military Funds

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We now know the next sentence of the story of President Trump 1's drive for a border wall. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday the president will sign a border security measure that does not include funding for the wall that the president demanded. Then McConnell said this.

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MITCH MCCONNELL: He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time. And I've indicated to him that I'm going to support the national emergency declaration.

INSKEEP: Now let's write out some more of the story. NPR national security correspondent David Welna joins us.

Hi there, David.

DAVID WELNA, BYLINE 2: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: How does the president claim power to spend money that Congress just now refused to give him?

WELNA: Well, you know, a national emergency power is something that's been exercised by American presidents ever since George Washington in August of 1794. He mobilized a militia 3 against what was expected to be a rebellion against whiskey taxes. I should note that there's nothing stopping any president from doing that because Congress has, actually, never defined what constitutes a national emergency. So Trump is able to activate 4 any number of more than 400 laws that Congress has passed over the years to allow a fast response to an emergency. President Bush, for example, declared a national emergency after the 9/11 attacks. And Trump will have to notify Congress exactly which of these emergency statutes 6 he plans to use to get the money that Congress would not give him in the bill that he's expected to sign.

INSKEEP: Although, as you have noted 7, it's unusual - to say the least - that a president would use an emergency statute 5 to, basically, do an appropriation 8 of money that Congress has just refused. So what pots of money will the president draw on if he goes forward this way?

WELNA: Well, it's most certainly not pots of money coming from Mexico to pay for a wall, despite all the president's earlier promises. These pots of money are all funding that Congress has already approved for other purposes. And mostly, they seem to be associated with the Department of Defense 9, which gets about two-thirds of the money that Congress approves each year. We don't have specifics yet from the White House. But it appears that Trump is going to try to raid other accounts to add more than $6 billion to the $1.375 billion that Congress has approved for a border barrier for a total of $8 billion. That's a lot more than the $5.7 billion he'd been seeking.

And most of that money - $3.5 billion - is expected to come from the Pentagon's military construction budget. And that's likely to anger a lot of defense hawks 10 on both sides of the aisle 11 because that money was all meant to be spent improving military bases. There's also about $2.5 billion in the Defense Department's drug interdiction 12 program that Trump is expected to tap, as well as another $600 million from Treasury's drug forfeiture 13 fund.

INSKEEP: OK. So we've been hearing this morning that a lot of lawmakers - mostly Democrats 14 but some Republicans - are really unhappy about this. The question comes as to whether Congress would really push back. I know that the House has talked of suing. The House could vote to stop this state of emergency. But would the Senate, controlled by Republicans, ever vote on such a thing?

WELNA: Well, under that 1976 National Emergencies Act, Congress can pass a joint 15 resolution that would effectively nullify a national emergency decree. And members of the House - Democrats in the House say they are planning to do exactly that. And that's something that if the House passes it, the Senate has to vote on it. So Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, would have to hold a vote. And there are already several Republicans who have expressed displeasure with a national emergency decree. If they joined Democrats, that could pass in the Senate as well. Then it would have to go to President Trump for his signature. And that may be when he exercises his veto power for the first time.

INSKEEP: Wow.

WELNA: Two-thirds majorities would be needed to override 16 that, which is not probable.

INSKEEP: NPR's David Welna, thanks so much.

WELNA: You're welcome.