It seems likely the Senate next week will follow the House in passing a joint resolution to nullify the national emergency designation President Trump declared to get funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
“The question really for us to consider in this body is not whether the President could have declared an emergency but should he have declared,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “The question as it relates to the redirection of military construction funds from our bases around the country to the southern border – these are the questions that we are debating currently.”
Murkowski plans to vote for the disapproval resolution, as do GOP senators Susan Collins (Maine), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Thom Tillis (N.C.). If all Democrats vote together, their support would be enough to pass the bill, but Republican leaders are worried about other senators who have not yet committed either way.
“Senate Republicans are not voting on constitutionality or precedent, they are voting on desperately needed Border Security & the Wall,” President Trump tweeted Wednesday. “Our Country is being invaded with Drugs, Human Traffickers, & Criminals of all shapes and sizes. That’s what this vote is all about. STAY UNITED!”
Republicans are concerned Democrats could force disapproval votes every six months until the national emergency declaration is rescinded, which Politico reports is possible under the National Emergencies Act.
There are about 6,000 military personnel on the border, according to a list from Northern Command published by Military Times. Additional units will be announced as they deploy.
DoD photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith
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