In the News

Pete Kasperowicz
Washington Examiner

House Democrats this week proposed legislation to prevent the use of any taxpayer money for President Trump's border wall, which would block Trump from funding the wall through an emergency declaration.

Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., and five other Democrats proposed the bill, on the same day Trump vowed to build his wall one way or another.

Democrats have resisted Trump's push for border wall funding, and Trump has said he might declare an emergency to get the money he needs. But the bill from Moore would prevent any funds from being used to build the wall.

"My bill, the No Taxpayer Funding for the Wall Act, will block the president from executing his reckless plan and force him to honor his pledge that Mexico will fund the wall," Moore said Wednesday.

"I call on both Democrats and Republicans to join me in my effort by supporting this commonsense legislation to protect the American public's tax dollars," she said. "We must pass this bill to ensure that President Trump can no longer hold the American people hostage."

Moore said Trump used his State of the Union speech to "spread lies and instill fear in the hearts of the American public by painting immigrants and asylum seekers as criminals — murderers determined to take down the law-abiding residents of the United States."

Congress is hoping to find an agreement on border security by Feb. 15. But Trump has threatened emergency action if no deal is in place to build a border wall.

Moore's bill could easily pass the House, which is controlled by Democrats, although it's unlikely to move in the GOP-controlled Senate. Still, House passage would signal that Democrats aren't willing to spend any money for Trump's wall, a position House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has staked out in public.

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