A dozen Republicans joined Senate Democrats on Thursday voting to end President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southwestern border. The 59-to 41 vote, on a measure already approved by the House, set up the first veto of Trump’s presidency.
Republicans who defected by supporting the measure to end the emergency declaration are worried that future presidents could usurp the power of Congress to fund the government and use the tactic to pass their own programs.
The vote was not a big enough margin to override the President’s promised veto; however, Congress has now voted for the first time to block a presidential emergency declaration.
“Our nation’s founders gave to Congress the power to approve all spending so that the president would not have too much power. This check on the executive is a crucial source of our freedom,” said Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN).
“It’s pure and simple: It’s a vote for border security; it’s a vote for no crime,” President Trump told reporters before the vote. However, the President could not overcome concerns among Republican Senators about the legality of redirecting $3.6 billion from military construction projects towards a border wall, even after Congress rejected the funding request.
The House vote to attempt to override President Trump’s promised veto is expected on March 26 after lawmakers return from a one-week recess.
The measure is unlikely to become law as there are enough Republicans in the House and Senate to sustain a Trump veto, which requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override. Regardless, the action in both chambers could bolster a number of lawsuits contesting the emergency declaration as a flagrant violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers. In the end, the issue could ultimately be decided by the courts.
