Say it's a 'crisis' often enough and we've got a chance in court! White House lawyers have told Trump and his aides to repeat the word in the hope it will help legal defense of border 'national emergency'
- White House counsel's office has advised Trump and his team to talk about a 'crisis' on the border to help justify a legal argument for a national emergency
- It's one option the president is looking at to get his wall funded
- He said Thursday he could use it but he hasn't pulled the trigger yet
- There was no forward movement on ending the government shutdown Thursday
- Trump visited the border, Vice President Pence visited Capitol Hill
- Speaker Pelosi is holding firm on no wall and Dems are hitting legislative wall
- Ideas have been flying, offers have been made, legislative maneuvering is in play, and options are being considered
- Adding to the urgency, 800,000 federal workers won't get paid Friday
- Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham: 'I have never been more depressed about moving forward than right now'
The White House counsel's office has advised President Donald Trump and his team to talk about a 'crisis' as often as possible when it comes to the border to help justify a legal argument for a national emergency should the president declare one to get his wall built.
The presidential lawyers argue the more times the term is used, the more citations they will have in filing a legal defense of such a move, CNN reported.
Should the president declare a national emergency, Democrats are expected to challenge it in court immediately.
President Trump visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas on Thursday
Vice President Mike Pence was on Capitol Hill as seen with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway
Speaker Nancy Pelosi won't say what Democrats will do if Trump declares a national emergency
Trump isn't ruling out using his emergency powers but he also hasn't pulled the trigger - yet.
'We can declare a national emergency. We shouldn't have to. This is just common sense,' he said during a visit to the border on Thursday.
'And there's no question it holds up,' he said of a possible legal challenge.
He added he was prepared to go to the court over the issue if it comes to that.
'I'm prepared for anything, I'm prepared, the lawyers tell me, like, 100%. That doesn't stop people from suing,' he said.
The White House also has begun laying the groundwork for such a declaration by searching for unused money in the Army Corps of Engineers budget to build the wall, The Washington Post reported.
The $13.9 billion in Army Corps budget includes money to fund projects throughout the United States, including storm-damaged areas of Puerto Rico through fiscal year 2020, but the checks have not been written yet, NBC News reported.
If Trump declares a national emergency, he could take money from those projects and use it for his wall.
Meanwhile, the administration has focused on rebranding the situation at the border a humanitarian and national security crisis in the past week to prepare for such an occurrence. White House officials have used the term 'crisis' more frequently in recent days.
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'Just arrived at Capitol to talk w/ members of Congress about the humanitarian & security crisis at our southern border,' Vice President Mike Pence tweeted on Thursday morning.
'The crisis on the border is real' was the title of a video the official White House twitter account posted Wednesday.
Even the president has joined in and used the word in his primetime address on the border Tuesday night.
'To every member of Congress: Pass a bill that ends this crisis,' Trump pleaded during his Oval Office speech.
The president has also held his shutdown talks with Congressional leaders in the White House Situation Room to help add to the impression this is a crisis.
The counsel's office review of whether Trump can declare a national emergency began in the middle of last week, CNN reported, amid a partial government shutdown over funding Trump's wall.
The president wants $5.7 billion to build his barrier while Democrats are holding firm at $1.3 billion for border security.
Neither side shows any sign of budging, which has increased speculation Trump may use the national emergency option.
Trump said Wednesday he has the 'absolute right' to declare an emergency, declaring that the only meaningful 'threshold' for making that decision would be the failure of his team and negotiators in Congress to cut a deal.
And with both sides at an impasse, ideas have been flying, offers have been made, legislative maneuvering has been in play, and options are being considered.
House Democrats, starting Wednesday, have begun to pass piecemeal bills that fund the government one Cabinet agency at a time.
Last week they passed two proposals - one that would fund all departments except for the Department of Homeland Security through the end of the fiscal year and another bill to fund Homeland Security until Feb. 8.
Senate Democrats took the floor of the upper chamber on Thursday to try and bring the proposals to a vote.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell shot down their efforts. He has said he will not bring up any legislation for a vote that Trump won't sign and the president is holding fast on not signing anything that doesn't fully fund his wall.
'It's been perfectly clear that the only way to produce this result is for the president, the speaker of the House and the minority leader to agree,' McConnell said.
There are also concerns Republicans on Capitol Hill aren't sold on the idea of the president declaring a 'national emergency.'
Trump has not said he'll declare a national emergency but he hasn't ruled it out
Vice President Pence tweeted about the 'crisis'
The White House counsel's office has urged officials to use the word 'crisis' to help justify a legal argument for declaring a national emergency
Trump had lunch in the Capitol building with Senate Republicans on Wednesday to urge them to hold the line.
Republicans were getting vocal about their concerns the shutdown has gone on too long with some saying it's time to reopen the government even without a guarantee of full funding for Trump's border wall.
The president played down what's happening in his party when asked about it during his visit to Capitol Hill.
'There is tremendous Republican support. Unwavering,' he said.
And one of his staunchest allies in the Senate - Republican Lindsey Graham - tweeted his encouragement to the president on Thursday to pull the trigger on using his emergency powers.
'Speaker Pelosi's refusal to negotiate on Wall/Barrier funding – even if the government were to be reopened – virtually ends congressional path to fund Wall/Barrier. Time for President @realDonaldTrump to use emergency powers to build Wall/Barrier. I hope it works,' he wrote.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier Thursday said she thought the president just wanted to hold a debate on his signature campaign promise instead of doing any actual building.
'I don't think the president wants a wall. I think he wants a debate on the wall,' she said during a press conference on Capitol Hill.
She also refused to reveal Democrats' plans should the president opt to use emergency powers.
'If and when the president does that you'll find out how we'll react,' she said, adding: 'I think the president will have problems on his own side of the aisle.'
Pence was on Capitol Hill Tuesday to talk to lawmakers as the shutdown hit day 20.
Adding to the sense of urgency, Friday marks pay day for 800,000 federal workers who won't get checks thanks to the shutdown. And Saturday will make this shutdown the longest in history.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said he is 'depressed' about the situation
Graham urged Trump to declare a national emergency
Graham and a group of Republican senators came up with a plan to end the stalemate: Democrats would have to agree to billions of dollars in funding for the president's wall in exchange for temporary protections for immigrants protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status, Politico reported.
But Pence indicated Trump was a no go on that option.
'No wall, no deal,' he said.
Graham sounded despondent talking to reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday.
'I have never been more depressed about moving forward than right now. I just don't see a pathway forward. Somebody's got to like get some energy to fix this,' Graham said. 'I've run out of ideas.'
'I don't know who to talk to and I don't know what else to do,' he said.
He ended with: 'I'm gonna meet with Ron Johnson and then I'm going to the gym.'
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