OLYMPIA, Wash. — President Trump could issue his first veto if Congress votes to block his national emergency declaration.
The president declared the emergency on Friday to shift $8 billion from agencies like the Defense Department to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The White House released the text of the emergency declaration that called the southern border a major entry point for criminals and drugs, representing “a border security and humanitarian crisis that threatens core national security interests.”
That declaration has sparked several protests nationwide, including ones in Olympia and Seattle.
One protest happened in the afternoon at the Insurance Commissioner's Building in Olympia, where Congressman Denny Heck joined State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
Ferguson has sued the Trump administration 33 times and says his office will file suit in this case if Washington has standing.
At the Seattle protest at Volunteer Park Monday night, Ferguson said his legal team worked over the weekend on a potential case regarding the emergency declaration.
"What we're doing is very carefully looking for when it comes out of which budget allocation that the president is raiding to fund his wall. We're looking to see if any of those budget items are specified and already intended for Washington State budgets,” said Ferguson.
Ferguson was joined by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Adam Smith, King County Executive Dow Constantine, Combat Army veteran Chris Franco and Gov. Jay Inslee.
"We on the Armed Services Committee are fighting against it,” said Smith. “The only way it's possibly legal, is if they take the money to actually defend members of the US armed services who are performing a mission."
Inslee called gun violence and climate change the real national emergencies.
"We know that there is no national emergency,” said Inslee, referencing the president’s emergency declaration. “There is only a political emergency.”
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