GOP Sen. Thom Tillis joining Democrats in vote to block Trump's emergency declaration
by Daniel Chaitin
| February 25, 2019 07:58 PM
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., announced Monday he will vote against President Trump's national emergency declaration for border security, giving Democrats another Republican ally in an effort to send a resolution of disapproval to his desk.
"As a U.S. senator, I cannot justify providing the executive with more ways to bypass Congress. As a conservative, I cannot endorse a precedent that I know future left-wing presidents will exploit to advance radical policies that will erode economic and individual freedoms," he wrote in an op-ed published in the Washington Post on Monday.
House Democrats have set a Tuesday vote to advance a resolution to reject Trump’s declaration. The measure is expected to easily pass in the Democratic-controlled House.
In the Senate, Democrats need four Republicans to defect to put it on Trump’s desk.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said last week she would vote in favor of the resolution. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she is likely to back disapproval too.
Trump is likely to veto the resolution if it reaches his desk, which would send it back to the House. Lawmakers could then attempt to override the veto, but that requires a two-thirds majority and cooperation from 50 Republicans, which appears unlikely.
Trump declared a national emergency on the border with Mexico on Feb. 15, after Congress refused to give him the funding he had requested to build a border wall. Sixteen states, not including Washington, filed a lawsuit last week against the Trump administration over the order that would divert billions of dollars from military construction budget for the project.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/gop-sen-thom-tillis-joining-democrats-in-vote-to-block-trumps-emergency-declaration
