SAN FRANCISCO _ A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld an injunction barring the Trump administration from using military funds to pay for a wall along the southern border.
In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said President Donald Trump was likely to lose his appeal and the injunction by a district judge should remain in place.
After failing to win funding for the wall from Congress, Trump announced in February that he planned to divert $8.1 billion for the border wall from funds slated for military construction and other Department of Defense operations.
The Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition sued, winning an injunction in late May. The Trump administration asked the 9th Circuit to block that order while the case is on appeal.
In rejecting the administration's request, the 9th Circuit said using the military funds "violates the constitutional requirement that the executive branch not spend money absent an appropriation from Congress."
The public interest is "best served by respecting the Constitution's assignment of the power of the purse to Congress," the 9th Circuit said.
The order was signed by Judges Richard Clifton, appointed by President George W. Bush, and Michelle Friedland, an appointee of President Barack Obama. Judge N. Randy Smith, appointed by President George W. Bush, dissented.
