Political Analyst Steve Flowers Weighs On Trump’s National Emergency
The fight between the President Trump and Congress has topped the headlines in 2019.
From a record setting government shutdown to funding for the border wall, there has been an on-going fight.
Political analyst Steve Flowers says Trump was laying a foundation for what was to come, if he did not get what he asked for after negotiations with bipartisan groups to help fund the government.
“I think he was setting a precedent for that in his State of the Union. He pretty much laid down that these immigrants who are coming in here are outlaws, according to Trump and so he wants to declare a state of emergency or almost war,” Flowers says.
Trump has been fighting for wall funding throughout his presidential term.
Flowers says declaring a national emergency is a dangerous precedent that has been done before. The courts usually side with Congress.
“It’ll be up to the courts to ultimately decide. And the question is if they decide quickly or not. I think he presumes that they will drag their feet a little bit so he’ll go ahead and get his wall and use the fence appropriations on his wall,” Flowers says.
With an election year coming up in 2020, Flowers says some voters could have changed their minds on who to support next year.
“It doesn’t help him with independent voters. They don’t necessarily think shutting down the government for the wall is good.”
While Trump’s action will help him make good on his campaign promise, there’s no way to know how it will effect his 2020 campaign.
“If he’s energized his base and the base looks at him and say “we’ve got a real winner or somebody that will stand up for us from the far right. if they show up in record numbers, thats how he won last time. so if they show up in record numbers, yes it was a good move.”
Trump’s declaration came a day after congress approved a bill providing 1.3 billion dollars for the wall, far short of what he was asking for.
The national emergency bill potentially frees up about 8 billion dollars for the border wall, if courts don’t intervene.
