Though he expects loyalty from Republicans, President Trump has never demonstrated much fidelity to the party that he leads, and on Friday he proved it again. In declaring a national emergency to fund his border wall, the president reminded Republican lawmakers that he feels free to trample on them whenever […] Read more »
How the border wall divided the GOP
President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency, intended to allow him to build a wall on the southern border without Congress approving funds, has sparked intense debate within the Republican Party, just as Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) warned it would weeks ago. … The Republican divide over the national […] Read more »
Trump keeps trying to win a base he’s already won, while forgetting everyone else
… Earlier this week, it seemed like the President was going to heed the lesson of the shutdown. He was going to sign a spending bill without funds for a border wall, the construction of which remains unpopular. Instead, Trump’s going to declare a national emergency to get his border […] Read more »
Two-thirds didn’t want Trump to declare a national emergency
Only 3-in-10 Americans said President Donald Trump should declare a national emergency in order to build a wall along the border with Mexico, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS in early February. … CNN’s poll isn’t the only one to reflect an opposition to the president’s use of […] Read more »
Trump is taking a huge gamble on the wall
… According to the 2017 American Values Survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), 55 percent of Republicans agree that “we need a leader who is willing to break some rules if that is what is needed to set things right.” That total rises to 66 percent among […] Read more »
Declaring a national emergency to build a border wall is out of step with history — and unpopular
There’s no doubt that President Trump likes the idea of declaring a national emergency in the abstract. It’s a tool that’s specifically designed to sweep away the cumbersome process of reaching consensus on tricky political issues, given to a president to rapidly address crises that threaten the United States. National […] Read more »