Thread by @SamBerger_DC

It feels like every day Trump or some other Republican floats another plan to provoke a constitutional crisis by illegally building the wall. They can be hard to track.

So here's a short thread explaining the GOP's very uncool and very illegal proposals.

First, Trump's proposal to illegally divert funding from military construction projects. He would have to declare an emergency that "requires the use of the armed forces." No such one exists, and no emergency allows Trump to turn the military into his private construction co. /2

The plan is illegal. Former DoD Deputy General Counsel Bob Taylor suggests that, before following any order from Trump to carry it out, military officials should consider "their potential criminal exposure." /3
justsecurity.org/62168/beware-p…

In addition, the military can only build on land it has jurisdiction over. So if Trump wants his wall, that means the military is going to have to take lots of land from private individuals, tribes, and states. /4
washingtonpost.com/posteverything…

Trump also said the Army Corps could build the wall, maybe w/ disaster relief $. But again, there's no emergency to justify it. And the authority he's relying on only lets him move $ betw/ congressionally authorized projects, and the wall isn't that. /5
justsecurity.org/62149/trumps-p…

Finally, there's been talk of using asset forfeiture funds to build the wall. The issue there is that you can't. Those funds can only be used to support activities related to asset forfeiture (like storing property or buying info). Again, not a wall. /6

https://twitter.com/SamBerger_DC/status/1084111495401799686

So what happens if Trump takes one of these steps anyway? Well Congress can sue. So can people/states/tribes who would lose their land or those losing out when $ is diverted from other projects. Expect it to get tied up in court almost immediately. /End
washingtonpost.com/politics/as-tr…