Here is what it means if Donald Trump declares national emergency to construct a border wall

The US federal government is currently going through a partial shutdown as President Donald Trump refuses to back down over his border wall request. Now the White House has begun laying the groundwork for a declaration of national emergency to achieve Trump’s wall.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has vowed that they would reveal their intentions if and when the president goes ahead with the declaration.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump escalated his warnings that he could declare a national emergency in order to achieve his US-Mexico border wall. He made the threat as he left the White House for a visit to the border.

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. In order to end the three-week long government shutdown Trump’s administration looking at the Army Corps of Engineers budget.

The president might end up using the Army Corp’s disaster spending bill which was passed by Congress last year. Their budget includes $13.9 billion which was allocated but not spent on civil works projects according to two sources.

It’s believed that Trump has urged the Army Corps to figure out how quickly contracts could be signed and whether construction could begin within 45 days. The president has requested $5.7 billion to construct more than 200 miles of wall along the US-Mexico border.

Democrats have opposed the request leading to the partial shutdown. Around 800,000 federal workers might miss their first paychecks since the shutdown began on December 22.

Speaking of the possible declaration, Trump said:

“I have the absolute right to declare a national emergency, the lawyers have so advised me. I’m not prepared to do that yet, but if I have to, I will. If this doesn’t work out, probably, I will do it. I would almost say, definitely. This is a national emergency. ... If we don’t make a deal, I would say it would be very surprising to me that I would not declare a national emergency.”

On Wednesday, the president walked out of a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. With regards to Trump’s threats of declaring a national emergency, Pelosi declined to reveal how House Democrats would react.

She stated:

“If and when the president does that you’ll find out how we will react. I think he’s going to have to answer to his own party on usurping that much power.”

On Thursday, the president announced that he was canceling his trip which was set for later this month to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He blamed Democratic “intransigence” over the border wall for the cancellation.