{"id":32779,"date":"2019-02-25T15:39:29","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T15:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/25\/58-former-national-security-officials-to-rebuke-trumps-emergency-declaration\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:40:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:40:40","slug":"58-former-national-security-officials-to-rebuke-trumps-emergency-declaration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/02\/25\/58-former-national-security-officials-to-rebuke-trumps-emergency-declaration\/","title":{"rendered":"58 former national security officials to rebuke Trump\u2019s emergency declaration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 A bipartisan group of 58 former senior national security officials is expected to join opposition to President Donald Trump\u2019s national emergency declaration<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president aims to use military construction funds to build his southern border wall, beyond the $1.4 billion Congress approved for border security. But he faces opposition from House Democrats mounting a vote Tuesday to block it \u2014 and now a joint statement whose signatories include former Secretaries of State Madeline Albright and John Kerry, former Defense Secretaries Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta, and former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former officials\u2019 statement against Trump\u2019s Feb. 15 declaration was first reported<\/a> by The Washington Post. The statement is expected to be entered into the Congressional Record on Monday to bolster lawsuits and other legal actions challenging the emergency proclamation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no factual basis for the declaration of a national emergency,\u201d reads the statement, which argues that border crossings are near a 40-year low and that there is no terrorist emergency at the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\t