Can the Defense Department Build a Border Wall?
If the President were to declare a national emergency in order to justify building a “wall” on the border with Mexico, there would be certain legal authorities that he could invoke to initiate construction operations.
But the scope of those legal authorities is uncertain and would almost certainly trigger litigation to challenge their application, the Congressional Research Service said last week.
“Whether these authorities — individually or in combination — extend to the construction of a border wall would present a reviewing court with several questions of first impression,” CRS said. See Can the Department of Defense Build the Border Wall?, CRS Legal Sidebar, January 10, 2019.
On the other hand, the National Emergencies Act has been effectively invoked on two previous occasions to authorize military construction activity overseas (by Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush), CRS said in another new publication. See Military Construction Funding in the Event of a National Emergency, CRS Insight, updated January 11, 2019.
Some other noteworthy new and updated publications from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Mexico’s Immigration Control Efforts, CRS In Focus, updated January 3, 2019
How a Government Shutdown Affects Government Contracts, CRS Legal Sidebar, January 10, 2019
Defense Primer: FY2018 Department of Defense Audit Results, CRS In Focus, updated January 9, 2019
New CRS Series: Introduction to Financial Services, CRS Insight, updated January 11, 2019
Federal Grand Jury Secrecy: Legal Principles and Implications for Congressional Oversight, January 10, 2019
U.S. Sanctions on Russia, updated January 11, 2019
Cluster Munitions: Background and Issues for Congress, updated January 7, 2019
U.S.-Proposed Missile Technology Control Regime Changes, CRS In Focus, January 10, 2019
What if low trust was not a given? Or, said another way: what if we had the power to improve trust in government – what would that world look like?
“One in three Americans report being personally affected by extreme weather in just the past two years – illustrating that extreme weather has become extremely common,” said Dr. Hannah Safford.
Datasets and variables that do not align with Administration priorities, or might reflect poorly on Administration policy impacts, seem to be especially in the cross-hairs.
One month of a government shutdown is in the books, but how many more months will (or can) it go? Congress is paralyzed, but there are a few spasms of activity around healthcare and the prospects of a continuing resolution to punt this fight out until January or later.