Is it legal to build a border wall through a U.S. National Park?

[MUSIC PLAYING]. A community member has a really timely question, which is this. SCOTUS, the Supreme Court of the United States, just authorized Trump to build a border wall in West Texas. that would go through Big Bend National Park. How is this legal, the member asks, aren't national parks considered protected land? I love this question.

Mary McCord and I talked about this on our MSNOW podcast, Main Justice. So first, if any of you have been to the national park. at Big Bend, which I have, the whole idea of this. is one that is somewhat heartbreaking. But there is good news. So first, under the law--. and the Supreme Court has green lit the wall going forward, just this past week. And they didn't write a decision on it.

But the Department of Defense and the government. does have the ability, under certain provisions, to waive various environmental reviews. and various protections. In other words, there is, under the congressional statute, a way for the government to not have. to go through all of the hoops that a normal party would. if there are certain findings that have been made.

Now, the lower court that had dealt with this. had said that that did not apply. But the Supreme Court obviously disagreed. And so this can go forward. But why am I optimistic? Because this all has to do with a congressional statute, what. Congress has authorized. And that means that, with the incoming Congress being. under control of Democrats, they are able to do two things.

One, they can change the law to get rid of those loopholes. And two, they can get rid of the funding. and restrict the ability of the government. to use the funds to build something. at the Big Bend National Park. So that's a long way of saying that elections. have consequences. And we have seen it work in ways that I think a lot of you. are appalled by in the Trump 2.0 administration.

But now that we will have a Democratic House and Senate, there will be the ability to prevent what. we were seeing at Big Bend, also the proposed arch, the continuation of building the East Wing, the eradication. and dismantling of the golf course in Washington, DC, to make way for some huge private golf course.

that Donald Trump seems to want to make out of a public course. All of that is something that Congress can control. By the way, I should add the Kennedy Center. So again, elections have consequences. And this one will have the ability. to take all of these vanity projects by Donald Trump. and put an end to them. If Congress has the backbone to do this. [MUSIC PLAYING].