Donald Trump plans to sign a bill to avert a government shutdown and then announce he is using executive action, including declaring a national emergency, to help finance construction on his proposed Mexican border wall, the White House has said.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell announced in the Senate that Trump intended to sign the compromise border security measure today to keep the government open, following several phone calls with the president in which he repeatedly pleaded with him to sign the deal.
McConnell said Trump had agreed to sign the bill while simultaneously declaring a national emergency at the US-Mexico border, bypassing Congress on securing the funding for his wall and getting the military to build it.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“Many of Trump’s GOP congressional allies called the move ill-advised, and Democrats promised immediate action aimed at blocking it,” the Washington Post says.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement following the announcement, saying Trump’s plan to declare the emergency was “a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency”.
“This is not an emergency, and the president’s fear mongering doesn’t make it one,” they said.
Trump is seeking $8 billion (£6.25 billion) in funding to build the wall, despite his campaign promise that he would make Mexico pay for it, CNN notes.
-
Wellness retreats to reset your gut healthThe Week Recommends These swanky spots claim to help reset your gut microbiome through specially tailored nutrition plans and treatments
-
Climate change could lead to a reptile ‘sexpocalypse’Under the radar The gender gap has hit the animal kingdom
-
7 hotels known for impeccable serviceThe Week Recommends Your wish is their command
-
Iran in flames: will the regime be toppled?In Depth The moral case for removing the ayatollahs is clear, but what a post-regime Iran would look like is anything but
-
Europe moves troops to Greenland as Trump fixatesSpeed Read Foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark met at the White House yesterday
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Trump, Iran trade threats as protest deaths riseSpeed Read The death toll in Iran has surpassed 500
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
What do the people of Greenland want for their future?As Europe prevaricates over US threats for annexation there is a unifying feeling of self-determination among Greenlanders
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Venezuela ‘turning over’ oil to US, Trump saysSpeed Read This comes less than a week after Trump captured the country’s president
