The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow construction of a border wall with Mexico to continue using funds appropriated from other parts of the federal government yesterday.
A federal appeals court ruled in June that the administration illegally appropriated funds for the project that Congress had designated for other uses. The funds were commandeered largely from the Department of Defense’s budget.
In what amounts to a major yet underreported victory for Trump, Friday’s order means the court is not likely to visit the issue again until after November’s election while construction continues.
“The Court’s decision to let construction continue nevertheless I fear, may operate, in effect, as a final judgment,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in a brief dissent for the four liberals who voted to halt construction.
Photo by U.S. Customs & Border Patrol