House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith Admits Trump Can Declare National Emergency Over Border

Updated:

Rep. Adam Smith, the Democrat chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, admitted that President Trump can declare a national emergency over the border crisis.

Trump considers declaring a national emergency

President Trump has been threatening to invoke his authority as the president to declare a national emergency over the southern border in order to procure and distribute the funds necessary to construct a barrier to limit illegal immigration.

In the ongoing negotiation of the government shutdown, congressional Democrats have resisted meeting Trump’s demands for border-wall funding, insisting that our border security need not rely on a physical barrier. (RELATED: Nancy Pelosi Taunts Trump’s Wall Demand, Offers $1 in Funding.)

Trump is looking to get around this Democratic intransigence by acting alone to secure the border, using military funding if necessary. (RELATED: Trump Confirms the U.S. Military Will Construct the Border Wall if Democrats Refuse Funding.) To do this, he has floated the idea of declaring a national emergency.

Top Democrat agrees with Trump’s authority to declare an emergency

Under the Constitution, the president has broad powers to act unilaterally in case of a national emergency.

But, some Democrats and their media apparatchiks aren’t convinced that Trump has this authority. Rep. Adam Schiff told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Trump lacks the authority to do so. However, a major House Democrat confirmed that Trump indeed has the authority, but it’s an open question as to whether the courts will back it up.

Here’s what House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith told ABC’s This Week when asked about Trump’s authority in this area:

“Unfortunately, the short answer is yes. There is a provision in law that says the president can declare an emergency. It’s been done a number of times. But primarily it’s been done to build facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. In this case, I think the president would be wide open to a court challenge saying, ‘where is the emergency?’ You have to establish that in order to do this. But beyond that, this would be a terrible use of Department of Defense dollars.”

President Trump was quick to home in on this message.

A historical parallel to Trump’s national emergency

Whether or not the courts would hold up Trump’s national emergency is an open question. Still, there is one historical parallel that comes to mind on the president’s authority regarding emergencies. When President Truman nationalized that steel industry in response to a nationwide strike citing his national emergency powers, the Supreme Court rebuked him, ruling his action as unconstitutional in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer. The Court held that Truman could not seize private property without specific authority. At the time, Truman cited national security as steel was necessary in the military effort in the Korean War.

Given that construction of a border wall would entail seizing a significant amount of private property, it stands to reason that Trump declaring a national emergency to fund and build a wall may not stand up to court scrutiny. Trump will also be citing national security as the impetus for his emergency declaration, should he do it.

However, the President may be relying on the threat alone to get Democrats to bend to his direction.

By Jim E

Jim E. is a true political insider, with experience working both in Washington and outside in real America. Jim... More about Jim E

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