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Judge Haywood Gilliam of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, who ruled at once on two pending lawsuits against the administration, stated President Donald Trump’s efforts to shift Defense Department funds toward the border project were “unlawful.”
The decision follows an earlier temporary injunction, issued last month, in which Gilliam said the White House’s efforts did not “square with fundamental separation of powers principles dating back to the earliest days of our Republic.”
The White House had sought to direct $2.5 billion from counterdrug programs in the Defense Department toward building the wall.
The president’s critics, who said he was overstepping his constitutional authority, denounced that action, which followed a monthslong impasse between the White House and Congress, and a partial government shutdown.
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A pair of lawsuits soon followed: one filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition; and the other filed by California and 19 other states.
Gilliam issued decisions on both cases Friday. Combined, the rulings prevent the use of the funds on projects in El Paso, Texas; Tucson and Yuma, Arizona; and El Centro, California.
The president’s critics applauded the decision.
“All President Trump has succeeded in building is a constitutional crisis, threatening immediate harm to our state,” Attorney General Xavier Becerra of California said.
Gloria Smith, an attorney at the Sierra Club, said in a statement released after the decision: “We applaud the court’s decision to protect our Constitution, communities, and the environment today. We’ve seen the damage that the ever-expanding border wall has inflicted on communities and the environment for decades.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday.