Congresswoman Wexton on Trump declaring national emergency as border wall pretext

Virginia Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton issued the following statement on President Trump’s national emergency declaration.

“This is a reckless abuse of power by the President. The United States is not a dictatorship, and the President cannot declare a national emergency simply because he was unsuccessful in his negotiations with Congress.

“The legislative branch is a separate and coequal branch of government—the President should learn that. He must understand that this kind of partisan gamesmanship is toxic. Reckless political maneuvers like this corrode the very foundation of our democracy.

“I fully support efforts by Democratic leadership to uphold the constitutional authority of Congress and terminate the President’s emergency declaration.”