The US Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for the administration of US President Donald Trump to tap billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico.
The court’s five conservative justices gave the administration the green light to begin work on four contracts it has awarded using US Department of Defense money.
Funding for the projects had been frozen by lower courts while a lawsuit over the money proceeded.
Photo: AFP
“Wow! Big VICTORY on the Wall. The United States Supreme Court overturns lower court injunction, allows Southern Border Wall to proceed. Big WIN for Border Security and the Rule of Law!” Trump tweeted after the ruling.
The action reverses the decision of a trial court, which in May froze the funds, and an appeals court, which earlier this month kept the freeze in place.
The freeze had prevented the government from tapping about US$2.5 billion in defense department money to replace existing sections of barriers in Arizona, California and New Mexico with more robust fencing.
The case on which the Supreme Court ruled began after the 35-day partial government shutdown that started in December last year.
Trump ended the shutdown in February after the US Congress gave him about US$1.4 billion in border wall funding, but the amount was far less than the US$5.7 billion he was seeking, and Trump then declared a national emergency to take cash from other government accounts.
The money Trump identified includes US$3.6 billion from military construction funds, US$2.5 billion in defense department money and US$600 million from the US Department of the Treasury’s asset forfeiture fund.
The case before the Supreme Court involved just the US$2.5 billion in defense department funds, which the administration says would be used to construct more than 160km of fencing.
The other funds were not at issue in the case.
The Treasury funds have so far survived legal challenges, and US Customs and Border Protection has earmarked the money for work in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, but has not yet awarded contracts.
Transfer of the US$3.6 billion in military construction funds is awaiting approval from the defense secretary.
The lawsuit at the Supreme Court was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition.
The justices who lifted the freeze on the money did not give a lengthy explanation for their decision, but said among the reasons they were doing so was that the government had made a “sufficient showing at this stage” that those bringing the lawsuit do not have a right to challenge the decision to use the money.
ACLU lawyer Dror Ladin said after the court’s announcement that the fight “is not over.”
The case would continue, but the decision suggests an ultimate victory for the ACLU is unlikely. Even if the ACLU were to win, fencing would have already been built.
The administration had argued that if it was not able to finalize the contracts by Sept. 30, then it would lose the ability to use the funds and asked for a decision quickly.
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