A coalition of 16 states, including California, challenged President Trump and his administration in court over his plan to get funds to build a wall on the border with Mexico bypassing Congress.
Last Friday, the American leader declared a national emergency in order to receive money for the construction of the border wall, thus fulfilling one of the key promises of his election campaign. Remarkably, the declaration of an emergency will allow the head of the White House to spend funds allocated by Congress for other needs. Previously, lawmakers refused to comply with the president's requirement to spend $5.7 billion for the construction of the wall scheduled for 2019.
Representatives of sixteen US states sued the President of the United States to prevent abuse of authority and stop him from unilaterally appropriating budget funds allocated by Congress for the needs of the states. According to the estimates of the American states' authorities, they may lose millions of dollars of budget funds because of the Donald Trump's decision, and the redirection of funding from other projects approved by the legislators will damage their economies.
The US Congress granted the president almost $1.4 billion for barrier construction. Having declared a state of emergency, Donald Trump will be able to receive $6.7 billion in additional funds.
