DAY 96: TRUMP LOSES: Court blocks his threat to sanctuary cities

This isn't the first thing that happened today, but it certainly is the biggest: A federal court blocked Donald Trump's threat to cut funding to sanctuary cities. Why? Because the court said Trump can't do that, as only Congress can do that.

According to The New York Times:

A judge in San Francisco on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Trump’s efforts to starve localities of federal funds when they limit their cooperation with immigration enforcement, a stinging rejection of his threats to make so-called sanctuary cities fall in line.

The judge, William H. Orrick of United States District Court, wrote that the president had overstepped his powers with his January executive order on immigration by tying billions of dollars in federal funding to immigration enforcement. Judge Orrick said only Congress could place such conditions on spending.

What the court is saying is Trump is once again violating the separation of powers by trying to take over budget issues that are only for Congress to decide.

What's funny about this is the fact that, as with the Muslim ban, the court used Trump's own words to prove he's violating the separation of powers:

Though Justice Department lawyers argued in the case that the government did not intend to withhold significant amounts of money, the judge noted that the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions had suggested the punishment could be far greater.
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“If there was doubt about the scope of the order, the president and attorney general have erased it with their public comments,” Judge Orrick wrote.

In other words, Trump's lawyers tried to fool the judge by saying Trump was only withdrawing a small amount of money from the sanctuart cities. The judge didn't buy it.

So there you have it: Once again Trump LOSES in court. That's four times now before the end of his first 100 days in office.