The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an appeal from former President Donald Trump to rule against funding used for the wall along the southern border.
In an unsigned order, the court sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit with instructions to vacate its judgments. It also instructed a district court in the case to “consider what further proceedings are necessary and appropriate in light of the changed circumstances in this case,” namely that Trump is no longer president.
SUPREME COURT SUSPENDS TRUMP BORDER WALL CASE
The case, Trump v. Sierra Club, frequently made its way back to the Supreme Court after Trump announced in 2019 that he planned to declare a national emergency and reallocate funds given to him through the National Emergencies Act for the wall. Trump’s maneuver, which came amid the 2018-2019 government shutdown, raised multiple legal challenges.
Every court involved in the case ruled against the then-president, finding that Trump had violated the separation of powers. In addition, the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court injunction that blocked border wall construction during litigation. In 2019, the Supreme Court put a stay on that injunction on the basis that challengers may not have had standing to sue the administration.
In 2020, the case came back to the Supreme Court, this time with the Sierra Club asking the court to lift its stay. The court declined to do so.
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Later that year, the Trump administration brought the case to the court again, claiming that the Sierra Club did not have the standing to sue in the first place. The court scheduled arguments for early 2021, but the incoming Biden administration asked that it postpone arguments.
At the time, the new administration changed course on many of Trump’s immigration policies, making the case moot.
