Trump set to declare border emergency, sign shutdown-averting bill

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‍U.S. President Donald Trump was poised on Friday to declare a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, a move that Democrats vowed to challenge as an unconstitutional attempt to fund his proposed border wall without approval from Congress.

The bill, lacking any money for his wall, is a defeat for Trump in Congress, where his demand for 5.7 billion U.S. dollars in barrier funding yielded no results, other than a record-long 35-day December-January partial government shutdown that damaged the U.S. economy and his poll numbers.

U.S. House passes budget bill to avoid another shutdown

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bipartisan border security bill aimed at averting a government shutdown and sent it to Trump. It includes new barriers for part of the U.S.-Mexico border but not the 5.7 billion U.S. dollars Trump sought.

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The Democratic-run House backed the measure, a spending bill providing over 300 billion U.S. dollars for several government departments and agencies, 300 to 128.

It passed the Senate earlier on Thursday. The White House has said Trump will sign it into law, but will also attempt to use unilateral powers to obtain money for a wall.

The bill was expected to go to the White House on Friday for the president's signature before he flies to his private Mar-a-Lago golf club in Florida for a holiday weekend break.

"President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action – including a national emergency," White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said.

Asked by reporters if she would file a legal challenge to an emergency declaration, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: "I may, that's an option."

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer accused Trump of "gross abuse of the power of the presidency."

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would support Trump on the emergency. Earlier this month, McConnell had cautioned Trump that declaring an emergency could divide Senate Republicans, the Washington Post reported.

An emergency declaration could infringe on Congress' authority to make major decisions about taxpayer funds, a fundamental check and balance spelled out in the Constitution.

For weeks, as the president's wall-funding demand to Congress went nowhere, even after a historic 35-day partial government shutdown, the White House explored whether an emergency declaration could be invoked to redirect taxpayer funds committed by Congress for other purposes toward the wall.

The national emergency strategy, expected to be declared by Trump on Friday, was already dividing Republicans.

(With inputs from Reuters)