State AG threatens legal action over Trump emergency declaration
Feb 14, 2019, 4:51 PM
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
(Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Following the news that President Trump would be declaring a state of emergency to fund his proposed border wall, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson threatened legal action.
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“If Washington is harmed, my office will take appropriate steps to block this unlawful action, just as we’ve blocked more than a dozen illegal and unconstitutional policies of this president,” Ferguson said in a Thursday news release.
Ferguson has sued the Trump administration upwards of 27 times since the president was sworn in, beginning in 2017 with a lawsuit against the controversial travel ban.
Since then, his lawsuits have ranged in subject matter, from ceiling fans to coal miner rights.
For President Trump’s impending national emergency, Ferguson says his legal team “has been reviewing this issue for some time.”
“I’m disappointed, but not surprised, to see the president is once again exceeding his authority in violation of the Constitution,” said Ferguson.
Congressional Democrats were similarly critical on Thursday.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer labeled the president’s declaration “a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that President Trump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for his wall.”
“The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country,” claimed White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.
