After causing the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history in a failed attempt to obtain nearly $6 billion in border wall funding, President Donald Trump now plans to defy the will of Congress by illegally siphoning billions of dollars from the nation’s defense budget. On February 15, Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border in order to sidestep Congress and invoke unique executive authority. But during the announcement, Trump himself admitted that his decision was motivated more by convenience than necessity, outing the emergency declaration for what it really is: a rogue attempt to actualize an unfulfilled campaign promise.
Trump’s proposed border wall—which his own chief of staff referred to as “absurd and almost childish”—offers an ineffective solution to a nonexistent crisis. Apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border have decreased by nearly 75 percent since 2000, and those entering the United States are primarily children and families fleeing violence and seeking asylum. Despite Trump’s attempts to provoke fear about broader security concerns, his administration has found “no credible evidence” of terrorist groups entering the United States via the southern border. Moreover, U.S. law enforcement reports that only a small fraction of illegal drug seizures occur where the border wall would be constructed, as the vast majority of drugs enter the United States through ports of entry. The statute that the White House has cited in an attempt to co-opt billions in defense appropriations for this so-called national emergency requires funds be used in support of the military during a national emergency. In the absence of a legitimate crisis, however, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has asked border officials to justify the reallocation of funds.
The United States’ defense budget reflects the military’s articulated needs to maintain its capability to monitor and manage national security threats. Trump’s diversion of these funds constitutes nothing less than a dereliction of his duty as commander in chief.