On Thursday afternoon the White House said that President Trump will sign a compromise bill to fund border security, but he will declare a national emergency to build the wall. The Senate passed the bill Thursday afternoon, and it is expected to be approved in the House later this evening.
Lawyers at the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and at the Pentagon have been working for weeks to iron out different options the president would have to obtain funds for his border wall. Funding for those agencies is due to expire on Friday, which would have prompted another partial federal shutdown on Saturday morning.
By declaring a national emergency at the border, the president could potentially free up billions of dollars to begin work on construction of a southern border wall. Much of that money would be pulled from the Department of Defense.
Editorial credit: Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com
