webfact Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 U.S. House fails to override Trump veto, upholding border wall emergency By Susan Cornwell New bollard-style U.S.-Mexico border fencing is seen in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, U.S., March 5, 2019. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/Files WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday failed to override President Donald Trump's first veto, leaving in place the "national emergency" he declared last month to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall that Congress has not funded. Democrats who control the House did not attract enough Republican support, falling some three dozen votes short of the two-thirds majority vote needed to overturn Trump's veto. Just 14 Republicans joined 234 Democrats in voting to override, one more Republican than had bucked Trump in a previous House vote on the border wall emergency. One Democrat and two Republicans did not vote. With the 248-181 tally, Trump is now likely to continue scouring federal accounts for money he wants redirected to building a border wall, which he says is needed to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking. However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro, author of the resolution to overturn Trump's move, said lawmakers would keep trying to block him through the regular congressional process of appropriating funds, as well as reviewing his emergency declaration again six months from now. The battle over Trump's emergency declaration also shifts to the courts, with various legal challenges already underway that could slow Trump's building plans for some time. A coalition of 16 states sued in federal court in February to stop Trump's border wall emergency; another four states joined the lawsuit this month. "Thank you to the House Republicans for sticking together and the BIG WIN today on the Border," Trump wrote on Twitter after the House vote. "Today's vote simply reaffirms Congressional Democrats are the party of Open Borders, Drugs and Crime!" Trump declared the national emergency on Feb. 15 in an attempt to bypass Congress and move taxpayer funds for the wall away from other uses already approved by the legislature. Bipartisan majorities of both the House and Senate rejected his move, voting to terminate the emergency before the president vetoed their resolution on March 15. BYPASSING CONGRESS Democrats argued the Republican president had overstepped his authority by going around Congress, because the legislature has the power to control spending under the U.S. Constitution. "We take an oath to the Constitution, not to the president of the United States," Pelosi said on the House floor. But Republicans insisted Trump had acted legally under a 1976 law known as the National Emergencies Act, under which previous presidents had declared dozens of emergencies. "The president has the authority to act. The president is using the authority Congress has given him," said Republican Representative Sam Graves. Trump's position was possibly strengthened by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's conclusion after a 22-month investigation that the Republican president's campaign team did not collude with Russian interference in the 2016 election. Moscow has denied meddling. That political victory for Trump may make it more challenging for Republicans to defy the president on a range of things, including his signature issue, the border wall. “Even though the two issues clearly aren’t related, it increases the president’s strength and popularity and puts him in a stronger position,” Republican Representative Tom Cole said before the House vote. After the vote, Pelosi and Castro said in a statement that Congress would keep working through the appropriations process to "terminate this dangerous action" by the president. Indeed, earlier Tuesday, the House Armed Services Committee sought to deny the Pentagon the authority to reprogram funds for the wall, an action that could potentially set up another courtroom battle. The Pentagon had announced Monday that it was shifting $1 billion from military construction projects to build part of the wall. But Democratic Representative Adam Smith, the Armed Services Committee's chairman, said Tuesday the panel did not approve the proposed use of Pentagon funds. The leader of the 20-state lawsuit to stop the border wall emergency, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, said after the House failed to override Trump's veto that the states "are ready to fight long and hard to stop his (Trump's)fabricated emergency in its tracks." For two years, Congress has refused to meet Trump's demands for funding the wall he promised in his 2016 election campaign, although it appropriated some funds for border fencing and other barriers. This year, Trump sought $5.7 billion in wall funding. When Congress refused, the standoff triggered a month-long partial government shutdown. That ended when the president agreed to $1.37 billion for border barriers, far less than he wanted. The president then declared the emergency, vowing to divert funds from other accounts for the wall. (Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Tom Brown) -- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechguy Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Dems having a bad week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YetAnother Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 54 minutes ago, webfact said: building a border wall, which he says is needed to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking. superficial; tunnel building/digging will be a regular thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopDeadSenter Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 3 minutes ago, YetAnother said: superficial; tunnel building/digging will be a regular thing Wherever there are walls and borders in this world there will be people trying to get through/over and under them. That does not mean all walls/borders should be tore down. If somebody broke into your house, would you say "Right, that's it, I'm smashing all my windows and taking down my front door"? No, of course not. Trump's southern wall will serve to deter illegal border crossers, and totally prevent these mass border stormings we have witnessed again and again in the last year. Anything that helps direct immigrants to official border crossings and entering the United States legally has to be a good thing, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puchaiyank Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Trump racking up this week. Meanwhile, the Dems now dismiss the Russia investigation, diss Attorney General Barr as a Trump lackey...and continue to insist on disrupting government business by holding self-serving news conferences with "this report raises more questions than providing answers". Political posturing has become the business of elected officials...???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVENKEEL Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Finally getting some work done even with the wacky dems as well as a few (14) Republicans nipping at Trump's heels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tug Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Well if Donald gets away with this pork belle project guess what happens when the dems are in the White House and there is a mass shooting yup gun control Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Surprise result? Hardly. Seems Trump is on a roll, and those 14 GOP that voted against him should be looking to what they can do after they get the boot at the next election. It will be a foolhardy GOP politician that comes out against Trump now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howbri Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 BUILD THE WALL Donald! Build the f'ing wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redline Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 18 hours ago, YetAnother said: superficial; tunnel building/digging will be a regular thing It already is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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