Trump's National Emergency Stands As House Fails To Override Veto

The House of Representatives failed to override President Trump's veto on a congressional resolution blocking his national emergency declaration. That executive proclamation paved the way for the administration to spend billions of dollars to construct a barrier along the Southwest border between the U.S. and Mexico after Congress refused to approve the full amount the White House demanded last year.

The vote was 248-181, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed. Only 14 Republicans joined Democrats to vote to overrule the president.

President Trump argued earlier this month when he used his veto pen for the first time on the measure that crime, illegal drugs and trafficking at the border justified his decision to go around Congress and pay for a border wall.

A standoff over the president's signature 2016 campaign promise to build a wall triggered a 35-day partial government shutdown. The bipartisan funding bill for this fiscal year passed by Congress authorized $1.375 billion — far short of the $5.7 billion the president wanted. Tuesday's vote means the administration can continue to divert more than $6 billion it tapped from several federal accounts to pay for the project.

Democrats on Capitol Hill argued there should be bipartisan pushback to the president's usurping the legislative branch's authority to approve federal spending.