13 Republicans help Democrats vote against Trump's wall funding grab
by Susan Ferrechio
| February 26, 2019 06:30 PM
The House voted Tuesday to revoke the national emergency President Trump declared in order to spend federal money to build a physical barrier on the southern border without congressional approval.
The joint resolution passed 245-182 with the help of 13 Republican votes. It now heads to the Senate, where many lawmakers predict it will pass with the help of at least four Republicans who oppose Trump’s emergency declaration.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the Senate would vote on the measure by mid March.
Trump has vowed to issue the first veto of his presidency if the resolution reaches his desk, and the House vote indicates there are not enough votes to override his veto.
Democrats used the debate on the resolution to attack Trump’s immigration policies and accuse him of using the emergency declaration to benefit his 2020 re-election effort. They argued there is no emergency on the border, where 50,000 people have been apprehended each month by border patrol agents.
“Today we must reject this unconstitutional power grab that diverts resources from real threats to an imaginary, politically contrived one,†said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas. “Today we defend our constitution and democracy by pushing back on the lies, deceit, the anti-immigrant hysteria, the fear mongering mismanagement of this administration.â€
The president announced on Feb. 15 he would declare a national emergency to move $3.6 billion from the military construction budget to use for physical barriers. Trump said he would also use an additional $3.1 billion from other budgets that do not require an emergency declaration — those funds are not affected by the House resolution, and Congress has no clear way to stop Trump from accessing that slightly smaller amount of money.
Trump's emergency declaration announcement came days after Congress appropriated $1.375 billion to erect physical barriers in the Rio Grande Valley. The money fell far short of the $5.7 billion Trump had been requesting.
Republicans who back Trump’s action said Congress voted in 1976 to provide the president the authority to use a national emergency declaration and Trump is acting legally.
“He is operating within the law,†said Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo.
Republicans argued the the porous border is allowing thousands of illegal immigrants and deadly drugs to enter the country with devastating consequences for communities hard-hit by overdoses.
â€Our country not afford inaction any longer,†Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va. “We need to build this wall.â€
But lawmakers in both parties don’t like the executive branch taking away congressional authority to appropriate.
“This is not about the wall, this is about our constitution, and our institution and our self-respect,†said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
The resolution passed hours after Vice President Mike Pence worked to convince Senate Republicans to stick together and block the resolution from passing the Senate. Despite that effort, McConnell left the meeting saying he still wasn't sure if Trump's emergency declaration was legal.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who attended the meeting with Pence, said he will vote with Democrats to block Trump, despite the argument made by the vice president and a Justice Department lawyer arguing in the president’s favor.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/13-republicans-help-democrats-vote-against-trumps-wall-funding-grab
