Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich unloaded on President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration, calling it a political play to subvert Congress’ authority.
During a CNN appearance Monday, the Republican bashed the president’s move, stressing that while he, too, believes drugs are a serious issue, Trump’s action was totally unwarranted.
“I think this is a political declaration and, frankly, you don’t do end runs around Congress,” Kasich said, noting that the original purpose of such a decision was to bypass time-consuming formalities “if we really have a problem here that is something that everybody agrees upon.”
“The Congress has already decided what they want to do on the border, and for him to say, ‘Well, I just don’t like what they did,’ that just flaunts in the face of that national declaration,” he said.
Trump announced the national emergency on Friday, seeking billions of dollars in additional funding for his southern border wall after he was unsatisfied with the $1.375 billion Congress had appropriated.
Kasich, who’s considering a challenge to Trump in 2020, anticipates the constitutionally questionable decision will end up being handled by the courts but is unsure whether it will be adjudicated in the president’s favor.
Either way, he maintained, Trump’s declaration “is definitely not the intent of what the Congress had when they passed this.”