A federal appeals court panel has ruled that the Trump administration’s use of funds originally allocated for military projects on the wall at the southern border is unlawful. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 that transferring the $2.5 billion Congress had earmarked for the military violates the Constitution, as the Trump administration “lacked independent constitutional authority to authorize the transfer of funds.” “These funds were appropriated for other purposes, and the transfer amounted to ‘drawing funds from the Treasury without authorization by statute and thus violating the Appropriations Clause.’ Therefore, the transfer of funds here was unlawful,” the ruling states.