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Cornered: Trump escalates shutdown crisis
Trump declaring a "national emergency" would immediately trigger requests for a Federal restraining order by wall opponents and Constitutional lawyers.

1/7/19
Donald Trump is threatening to burst out of his dead end on the government shutdown by wielding sweeping presidential power to declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and build his border wall. Trump's gambit comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gears up to pile political pressure on the GOP this week with a set of bills designed to open shuttered agencies and show that Democrats can provide credible government. But since the Republican-led Senate will only act on a deal that Trump will sign, the parties remain as estranged as ever as the shutdown heads into a third week with hundreds of thousands of government workers unpaid. Trump's threat is a characteristic move from a President who often tries to escape a crisis by igniting an even bigger controversy, hoping to throw his enemies off balance and disguise his own vulnerable position. But such a declaration could ignite a legal and political firestorm if he goes ahead, escalating the bitter showdown over the wall and his hardline immigration policies into a constitutional duel over executive power. "This shutdown could end tomorrow, and it could also go on for a long time. ... It's really dependent on the Democrats," Trump said on Sunday.
But the Democrats are refusing to talk about Trump's wall while the government remains partially closed. "There's no requirement that this government be shut down while we deliberate the future of any barrier, whether it's a fence or a wall," said Democratic Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin on "Face the Nation" on CBS. "This is the first President in history who shut down his own government," he said. Opinion in Washington is divided on whether Trump actually has the power to barge ahead on his own on the wall -- despite opposition in Congress. But such power is generally seen to be limited to a time of war or genuine national crisis. Trump's declaration would likely face a legal challenge on the grounds that the situation at the border does not meet that sudden contingency. The judiciary and Congress also have the right to challenge a President's definition of a national emergency.
Such a power play would also come at a time when there are already worries about the President's impulsive leadership.
Trump declaring a "national emergency" would immediately trigger requests for a Federal restraining order by wall opponents and Constitutional lawyers.