The Democrats have stood fast in the face of Trump’s incessant demands to fund his idiotic border wall and since they now control the House of Representatives after the Republicans were absolutely drubbed during the most recent mid-terms the president has no way to legitimately get what he wants. Instead, the Democrats have forced him to settle for some measly “border security” funding, which will not include the wall.
As Trump prepares to sign the funding bill to avoid another disastrous shutdown, it appears he is once again entertaining the idea of declaring a national emergency, possibly in order to abuse his powers as commander-in-chief and send troops to the Mexican border to construct his xenophobic vanity project.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has now announced that he will support Trump’s flagrantly authoritarian power grab, proving once again that the Republican Party is more than willing to endorse overt fascism if it means they can get some of their preferred policy outcomes. Trump delivered the tax cuts to billionaires that are the lifeblood of the parasitic, plutocratic GOP and so they’re willing to let him get away with just about anything.
It cannot be stressed enough what a dangerous precedent it will set if Trump follows through and declares a national emergency when none exists. It shows a shocking disregard for the separation of powers and pushes the American presidency closer to a dictatorship.
Although it hardly needs pointing out, it’s worth reflecting at least briefly on the fact that if a Democratic president were to exploit his or her powers in such a fashion the Republican Party and its conservative media apparatus would have an unprecedented meltdown. The party of “small government” only cares about its so-called principles when they can be weaponized against Democrats.
McConnell says "Trump is prepared to sign the bill and will also declare a national emergency"
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) February 14, 2019
Chuck Grassley gets extremely angry & starts yelling when he's asked to yield the Senate floor in the middle of his speech. @senatemajldr McConnell then announces that Trump plans to sign the government funding bill and declare a national emergency at the same time. pic.twitter.com/7r3wNJzwAM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 14, 2019
