Led by California, sixteen states have filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco claiming President Trump does not have the power to divert funds for building a wall and that according to the constitution, Congress controls federal spending. From The New York Times:
“The lawsuit is part of a constitutional confrontation that Mr. Trump set off on Friday when he declared that he would spend billions of dollars more on border barriers than Congress had granted him. The clash raises questions over congressional control of spending, the scope of emergency powers granted to the president, and how far the courts are willing to go to settle such a dispute.”
The Attorney General of California, Xavier Becerra said the president undercut his own argument on funding a wall when he said at a press conference on Friday that he “didn’t need to do this but wanted to do it faster.” From the lawsuit:
“Contrary to the will of Congress, the president has used the pretext of a manufactured ‘crisis’ of unlawful immigration to declare a national emergency and redirect federal dollars appropriated for drug interdiction, military construction and law enforcement initiatives toward building a wall on the United States-Mexico border” – California et al. vs. Trump et al.
Here are the state participating in the lawsuit. All the state have Democratic governors except one, Maryland.
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Illinois
Maine
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Nevada
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Oregon
Virginia