Senate Republicans must now decide whether to stop President Donald Trump from using an emergency declaration to pay for his border wall, and support from just four GOP members might be enough to send him a measure blocking his plan.
But Trump has promised to issue his first veto if a resolution of disapproval reaches his desk, and Congress appears far short of the votes for an override.
The Democratic-controlled House voted 245-182 Tuesday for a resolution designed to stop Trump from taking billions from other parts of the federal budget to build his promised wall. In the GOP-majority Senate, three Republicans already back the measure, just one short of the number needed to adopt it if the 47 Democratic caucus members stick together. Neither chamber is close to the two-thirds majority needed for an override.
By law, the Senate will have 18 calendar days to consider the House measure, H.J.Res. 46, or act on its own version.
The issues underpinning the emergency declaration likely will feature prominently in the 2020 elections -- with Trump asserting Democrats don’t want to secure the U.S. border with Mexico, and Democrats saying the president is wasting money on an ineffective and purely symbolic tool to keep undocumented immigrants out of the U.S.
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05.05.2025