Blocked

Trump's big beautiful wall on the border has met another legal wall.

A federal judge on Friday issued a ruling blocking the Trump administration from tapping billions of dollars in military funds to construct a wall on the United States's southern border.

U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam issued the permanent injunction in a California federal court after initially ruling last month to temporarily halt the administration’s use of military funds for the border wall.

President Trump declared a national emergency earlier this year in order to divert roughly $6 billion in Defense Department funds toward border wall construction. Friday's ruling blocks the administration from using $2.5 billion in military funds for a border wall.

The injunction halts border wall construction at different sites in New Mexico, California, Arizona and Texas, expanding Gilliam's previous ruling.

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The judge also found that the groups suing to block use of military funds for the wall would suffer "irreparable harm" over border wall construction because it "will harm their ability to recreate in and otherwise enjoy public land along the border."

Gilliam wrote that while he does not "minimize" the administration's interest in border security, he determined that "the balance of hardships and public interest favors" is in favor of the groups opposing the wall. Still, the judge declined to rule on whether the Trump administration violated the National Environmental Policy Act.

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Gilliam also issued a ruling in a separate case stopping the Trump administration from moving forward with border wall construction in New Mexico and California while that legal challenge plays out.

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The judge on Friday partially ruled in the states' favor but determined that they did not reach the bar needed for him to issue a permanent injunction in that case.

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The Democratic-controlled House has also sought to prevent Trump from using military funds for a border wall. It argues that only Congress has the authority to appropriate funds and that the president's move is therefore unlawful — a legal argument echoed in both of the California lawsuits.

However, a judge in D.C. ruled that the House did not have the power to sue the administration in federal court and later dismissed the lawsuit at the House's request. The lawmakers are now appealing their case.

  The Hill