We begin today’s roundup with Amy Goldstein’s analysis at The Washington Post about how states are fighting back against President Trump’s unnecessary emergency declaration:
A coalition of 16 states filed a federal lawsuit Monday to block President Trump’s plan to build a border wall without permission from Congress, arguing that the president’s decision to declare a national emergency is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit, brought by states with Democratic governors — except one, Maryland — seeks a preliminary injunction that would prevent the president from acting on his emergency declaration while the case plays out in the courts.
More details from Jane C. Timm at NBC News:
"Today, on Presidents Day, we take President Trump to court to block his misuse of presidential power," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. President Trump "is willing to manipulate the Office of the Presidency to engage in unconstitutional theater performed to convince his audience that he is committed to his ‘beautiful’ border wall. We’re suing President Trump to stop him from unilaterally robbing taxpayer funds lawfully set aside by Congress for the people of our states."
Law professor Robert Chesney explains the eminent domain impact of Trump’s unnecessary border wall:
The Texans and others who face the loss of land because of eminent domain actions funded via Mr. Trump’s emergency declaration have standing to sue and good cause to do so. Not because the government may offer them too little money to constitute just compensation, though past practice suggests this will be an issue, too. Rather, they object to the process that the president has used to gain the funding after Congress largely denied it to him.
