Trump Plan to Divert Military Budget to Border Wall Is Rejected

  • U.S. judge says Trump can’t overrule Congress on spending
  • El Paso’s reputation is harmed by wall plan, ruling says
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
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A federal judge in Texas said he would block President Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall on the Mexican border with funds shifted from the Pentagon’s construction budget.

U.S. District Judge David Briones in El Paso, Texas, ruled Friday that Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to redirect Defense Department appropriations to a wall project that Congress specifically refused to pay for was illegal. He told the plaintiffs to draft a preliminary injunction for his review.