WASHINGTON — Outraged House Republicans sued President Barack Obama in 2014 for spending billions of federal dollars without congressional approval — and won. Now many House and Senate Republicans could side with President Trump for doing what they saw as a grave abuse of power by Mr. Obama — circumventing an unwilling Congress in a spending dispute.
The power of the purse is paramount for Congress. The constitutional edict that “no money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law” gives Congress the upper hand over the executive branch when it comes to how federal funds are allocated and disbursed. The president can veto spending bills if he is dissatisfied, but is not supposed to rewrite them or defy Congress and spend money in ways it did not approve.
Many in both parties now say that the presidential decision to act unilaterally and fund construction for a border wall via an emergency declaration would establish a dangerous new model, encouraging presidents thwarted by Congress to simply cite such a crisis to spend dollars however and wherever they pleased.
“We have a crisis at our southern border, but no crisis justifies violating the Constitution,” said Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida.
Accepting the declaration would represent another weakening of the authority of Congress in a steady ceding of power to the executive branch — a trend that Republicans have said they want to reverse and that they railed against when Mr. Obama used executive orders to act on issues such as immigration and health care.
“As I’ve said many times, I have concerns about the precedent that could be set with the use of emergency action to re-appropriate funds,” said Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican in the Senate.
Many other Republicans expressed similar reservations. But Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, who had suggested misgivings of his own, said he would back Mr. Trump’s emergency declaration, as did others who said the president had no other option given the bipartisan spending compromise that denied him money for his coveted wall.
“From Day 1, President Trump has made it clear he’s ready to address the crisis at the southern border, whether or not Congress works with him,” said Senator Kevin Cramer, a newly elected Republican from North Dakota. “While Democratic leadership has refused to tackle this issue, I stand with President Trump in favor of funding border security as we head into budget talks for the upcoming fiscal year.”
That willingness to stand with the president at the expense of their own institution underscores that the border wall remains a powerful symbol…
