The Supreme Court’s conservatives just handed Trump a big win in the border wall fight

In a 5-4 decision Friday night, the Supreme Court lifted a district court’s injunction against President Donald Trump’s efforts to use $2.5 million in military funds to build a wall on the U.S. Mexican border.

The five conservative justices voted to lift the injunction, while the four liberals dissented. Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the liberal justices, concurred in part with the majority’s decision that would allow the administration to re-allocate the funds and finalize contracts and administrative procedures related to the building of the wall. But Breyer would have blocked the actual construction of the wall until the litigation has concluded.

“SCOTUS hands Trump a major victory in beginning construction of the border wall,” noted Steven Mazie, a reporter for The Economist. “There will soon be facts on the ground that will be difficult to erase.”

While the court did not rule on the merits of the case, Mazie explained, its decision to lift the injunction suggests the administration is likely to prevail in this case.