US House strikes down Trump's border emergency, now goes to Senate

trump_kurdishforces US President Donald Trump | PTI

Dismissing a veto threat by President Trump, the Democratic-controlled House struck down his emergency declaration by a comfortable margin of 245-182, sending the measure to the Republican-held Senate. Now, only a handful of defections are needed to pass a resolution blocking Trump from obtaining fund for a Mexican border through his declaration of a national emergency in a Republican led Senate.

The US House of Representatives, sure dealt the President a blow with this move.

Thirteen Republicans joined Democrats in voting to "terminate" Trump's emergency declaration, which the president signed on February 15.

A border agent has explained to the president how a wall will not work.

The emergency declaration would allow Trump to find funding for the Mexican border wall from sources like the Pentagon budget for military construction projects. A vote of 245-182 still falls short of overriding the possibility a presidential veto. The declaration of emergency has been denounced by the Democrats as a power grab by the president and a violation of the Constitution because it usurps the power of Congress to decide government spending.

The president has threatened to veto the resolution if it passes both the 435-member House and the 100-seat Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 edge and its prospects are uncertain.

Two Senate Republicans—Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina—have said they would back the resolution overturning Trump's emergency declaration.

It is unlikely that either chamber will be able to muster two-thirds majority to avoid a presidential veto and four Republicans will need to break ranks for the measure to pass the Senate.

Should the measure clear both the House and the Senate and reach his desk, Trump would be faced with a stinging rebuke and cornered into issuing the first veto of his presidency.

Trump's national emergency declaration gives him access to billions of dollars to construct the border wall beyond the nearly USD 1.4 billion allocated by Congress.

According to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump's emergency order was an unconstitutional attempt to expand executive authority and strip lawmakers of the power to control how federal funds are spent.

"The president's power grab usurps that responsibility and fundamentally violates the balance of power envisioned by our founders," Pelosi said.

Several Republicans, too, had reservations about Trump's emergency declaration.

"I hope our great Republican Senators don't get led down the path of weak and ineffective Border Security," Trump tweeted on Monday before heading for Vietnam for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

While Trump is "rightfully frustrated with Congress's inaction" on border security, the president made a mistake declaring an emergency, said Tillis.

"I have grave concerns when our institution looks the other way at the expense of weakening Congress's power," the Republican senator from North Carolina wrote in The Washington Post.

"The southern border is a major entry point for criminals, gang members, and illicit narcotics."

Dozens of Republican ex-lawmakers and a bipartisan group of former national security officers, including secretaries of defence and CIA directors, spoke out strongly against the emergency declaration on Monday.

In a joint declaration, the 58 national security officials warned of an abuse of the Constitution.

The group includes former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and John Kerry, along with George W. Bush's undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns.

"Under no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today that entitles the president to tap into funds appropriated for other purposes to build a wall at the southern border," they said.