U.S. House Votes To Overturn Trump’s Border Wall Emergency Declaration

The wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was something President Donald Trump promised throughout his 2016 presidential campaign. It was his biggest talking point, with Trump believing that many dangerous immigrants cross the border illegally. According to the president, the only thing that really works is a wall.

In December, things came to a head with regard to Trump’s promise to build said wall. House Democrats refused to fund the $5.7 billion piggy bank the president was demanding in able to do so, and the longest government shutdown in history was triggered on December 22 when the talks reached an impasse.

After 35 long days of nearly a million federal employees unsure when they would see their next paycheck, a temporary reopening of government was announced while talks continued. Congress and the president would have three weeks to discuss funding the wall, after which the government would be shut down again.

Fortunately, with just more than 24 hours to go before the deadline, the White House announced that an agreement had been reached. Unfortunately, in one fell swoop they also announced that Trump would officially be declaring a national emergency in order to get the funding he needed for the wall.

But doing so hasn’t been nearly as easy as the president might have imagined it would be. Democrats and even Republicans criticized the move, and now, according to CNN, they have officially moved to overturn Trump’s emergency declaration.

BREAKING: Democratic-led House votes to block Trump emergency declaration for wall money, sending issue to GOP-led Senate. https://t.co/ZFruqdRE5z

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 26, 2019

The measure passed the House of Representatives in a 245-182 victory, with 13 Republicans siding with the Democrats on the vote. Having passed the House, the next step is for the measure to go to the Senate, where the Republicans still hold the majority. Even so, CNN believes the upper chamber will also pass the motion, as only four Republicans will need to side with the Democrats.

There are already some senators who plan to vote in favor of the motion.

“As a conservative, I cannot endorse a precedent that I know future left-wing presidents will exploit to advance radical policies that will erode economic and individual freedoms,” GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have also indicated their intention to vote with the Democrats as things stand now.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Trump has already stated that he will veto any attempts to block his emergency declaration. He again threatened to do so on Tuesday when it looked likely the motion would pass the House.

The only way the president’s veto will be overturned is if Congress can come up with a two-thirds majority vote against him.

It’s not going to be a quick resolution, however, as the Senate doesn’t plan to vote on the measure immediately. It is thought the motion will be discussed and voted upon by the next recess in the middle of March, although an exact date has not been publicly set. Following that, it will go to the president’s desk where it will probably be vetoed.