Tag: Trump emergency

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News Round-Up: February 26, 2019

• InstaHunks Rick and the Griffopotamus remind,"The day is full of possibilities, just pick a direction and go for it!! Where’s your day gonna lead you???"
(image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunks Rick and the Griffopotamus remind,”The day is full of possibilities, just pick a direction and go for it!! Where’s your day gonna lead you???”

• Two people were stabbed at Fort Lauderdale Pride this past weekend.

• The new season of NBC’s World of Dance premieres tonight, and for the first time there will be a same-gender salsa duo competing.

• The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) say “compelling evidence that President Trump may have personally committed up to eight criminal campaign finance and related offenses while running for president and during his first year in office.”

• Newly-crowned “Best Actor” Oscar winner Rami Malek called Freddie Mercury, the man he portrayed in Bohemian Rhapsody, a ‘gay’ man and folks aren’t happy about it.

• A bipartisan group of 58 former senior national security officials issued a statement Monday saying that “there is no factual basis” for President Trump’s proclamation of a national emergency to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

• A state lawmaker is in hot water after saying gun control advocates should be “kicked to the curb and stomped on and run over a few times.”

• One more thing about Sunday night’s Oscars – that moment when Chris Evans proved he really is ‘Captain America’ and graciously helped Regina King up the stairs to accept her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Lovely moment 🙂

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Trump Declares National Emergency “I Didn’t Need To Do This, I Just Want To Do It Faster”

Donald Trump declares 'national emergency' over border security
Donald Trump declares ‘national emergency’ over border security

Donald Trump announced today from the White House Rose Garden that he will sign the $328 billion spending bill Congress passed Thursday to avoid another federal government shutdown before a midnight Friday deadline.

The spending package includes $1.375 billion for 55 miles of fencing along the southern border, much less than the $5+ billion Trump sought for his beloved wall.

Trump also said in his announcement today that he will declare a national emergency in order to redirect funds from elsewhere in the federal government, via executive powers, to cobble together an $8 billion slush fund to repair and build 234 miles of border barrier.

From Politico:

In addition to the funds Congress has appropriated, the White House will seek to redirect $3.6 billion from a military construction fund, $600 million from a Treasury Department drug forfeiture fund and $2.5 billion from a Pentagon drug prevention program, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters Friday.

Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi called the emergency declaration “a lawless act” and “a gross abuse of the power of the presidency.”

Even some Republicans have been privately and publicly urging Trump to avoid such a step, fearful that the expansion in powers could propel a future Democratic president to take the same step on climate change or gun violence.

During his speech, Trump repeated his assertion regarding ‘national emergencies’ that, “This has been done many times in the past – President Obama did it – it’s not such a big deal.”

Trump also took a slap at ultra-conservative Ann Coulter.