Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN that the President’s national emergency declaration to acquire billions of dollars in funding for his southern border wall is a “moment of truth.”
“It’s going to be a real test for my GOP colleagues in Congress and their devotion to the institution. if we give away the power of the purse, which is our most important power, there will be little check and no balance left. It’ll not be a separation of powers anymore, just a separation of parties,” said Schiff on CNN’s “State of the Union” to host Dana Bash
“So, this is going to be a moment of truth for my GOP colleagues,” Schiff added,
The president had initially been looking for $5.5 billion for his border wall, even shutting down the government for more than a month in a bitter dispute over the funding. Nevertheless, he did sign a measure last week which secured only $1.375 billion for a broader border security package that doesn’t specifically include his wall, but does include funding earmarked for roughly 55 miles of physical barriers along the border.
President Trump himself skewered his own national emergency declaration, saying of his wall project, “I want to do it faster. I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster” in the press conference in the Rose Garden at the White House that declared the emergency.
Schiff mentioned this as well, calling it a “dare.”
“In saying just the other day that he didn’t really need to do this. He just wanted to do it because it would help things go faster. He’s pretty much daring the court to strike this down.”
The President also said in his declaration that he expects it to be challenged, and even that he will get a few “bad rulings” before winning at the Supreme Court.
View the exchange below:
Image via screen capture from video source.