House rejects Trump emergency declaration, setting up potential veto showdown - Fox News
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2019-02-27
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Democrats on Tuesday pushed unprecedented legislation through the House to block President Trump's national emergency declaration to steer billions of extra dollars to his southern border wall, raising the prospect that Trump might issue his first-ever veto to defeat the effort.
The vote was 245-182, with all Democrats voting yea and 13 Republicans joining them.
Tuesday's vote marked the first time the House or Senate has tried to terminate a presidential declaration of a national emergency, using the provisions of the National Emergencies Act of 1976. Former Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., attempted a similar effort regarding a national emergency declared by then-President George W. Bush, but the measure never came to a vote on the House floor.
Should enough Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate defect and support the House bill, a two-thirds supermajority in both the Senate and House would be needed to override Trump's veto. The White House issued a formal veto threat Tuesday ahead of the House vote, ramping up pressure on Republicans to hold the line. (With 427 representatives voting, the House needed 285 yeas to have a veto-proof margin on this legislation, and fell far short.)
It took President George W. Bush more than five years before he used his veto, and President Barack Obama only 11 months. For President Bill Clinton, it took two and a half years.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said he expects the measure to come before the Senate by mid-March. With three Senate Republicans saying they would support the legislation, only one more was needed to vote with all the Democrats to pass the measure and send it to Trump.
"When you see the vote today there will be nowhere near the votes to override a veto," House GOP Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters.
Even many GOP lawmakers who have viewed themselves as protectors of Congress' power of the purse said they would defer to Trump in this case, saying he has the authority under the mid-1970s emergencies statute.
"They love Trump in my district," said Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo. "I'm for Trump."
Democratic leaders said the vote was not about the merits of Trump's wall but how Trump was trampling on the Constitution by grabbing money that he couldn't obtain through the usual means.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Trump's action "steals billions of dollars" from military construction projects— including, possibly, family housing and child care centers — to build the wall along the Mexico border.
Republicans have countered that problems with drug runners and human trafficking gave merit to Trump's maneuver.
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The vote was 245-182, with all Democrats voting yea and 13 Republicans joining them.
Tuesday's vote marked the first time the House or Senate has tried to terminate a presidential declaration of a national emergency, using the provisions of the National Emergencies Act of 1976. Former Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., attempted a similar effort regarding a national emergency declared by then-President George W. Bush, but the measure never came to a vote on the House floor.
Should enough Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate defect and support the House bill, a two-thirds supermajority in both the Senate and House would be needed to override Trump's veto. The White House issued a formal veto threat Tuesday ahead of the House vote, ramping up pressure on Republicans to hold the line. (With 427 representatives voting, the House needed 285 yeas to have a veto-proof margin on this legislation, and fell far short.)
It took President George W. Bush more than five years before he used his veto, and President Barack Obama only 11 months. For President Bill Clinton, it took two and a half years.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said he expects the measure to come before the Senate by mid-March. With three Senate Republicans saying they would support the legislation, only one more was needed to vote with all the Democrats to pass the measure and send it to Trump.
"When you see the vote today there will be nowhere near the votes to override a veto," House GOP Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters.
Even many GOP lawmakers who have viewed themselves as protectors of Congress' power of the purse said they would defer to Trump in this case, saying he has the authority under the mid-1970s emergencies statute.
"They love Trump in my district," said Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo. "I'm for Trump."
Democratic leaders said the vote was not about the merits of Trump's wall but how Trump was trampling on the Constitution by grabbing money that he couldn't obtain through the usual means.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Trump's action "steals billions of dollars" from military construction projects— including, possibly, family housing and child care centers — to build the wall along the Mexico border.
Republicans have countered that problems with drug runners and human trafficking gave merit to Trump's maneuver.
More at:
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