[ad_1]
WASHINGTON – Democratic senators plan to force a vote in the coming weeks to end President Trump's urgent declaration on the southwestern border, urging Republicans to break with the US president over his plans to use money intended for building projects in their states a border wall.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the leader of the minority, announced his intention to continue the measure Tuesday, a few days after the Pentagon unveiled a list of military construction projects whose funds will be diverted to pay the wall under the National emergency, Mr. Trump. declared in February.
This decision will probably not end the emergency, which would require a two-thirds majority veto in the Republican-controlled Senate, which has shown little appetite to challenge Trump. But Democrats are eager to force Republicans to make a painful political choice between rejecting Mr. Trump's wall or explicitly sanctioning an initiative that would deprive their states of coveted federal funding.
The democrats' maneuver marks a militant opening to already heavy negotiations in the coming weeks on federal spending, in which Republicans and Democrats must resolve various differences to avoid a government shutdown this fall.
Voting will be particularly difficult for politically vulnerable Republicans who have finally decided to support the president's statement, but only to see projects in their states on the list set aside to pay for the wall. Senators Martha McSally of Arizona and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, for example, face tough re-election campaigns. Democrats in both countries have stolen statements criticizing them for endorsing the president's plan.
A dozen Republicans have joined every Democratic Senate vote to end the declaration of national emergency in March, after the House passed the resolution. The measure was ultimately lower than the margin needed to cancel Trump's veto, which was issued in March.
Mr. Trump has designated the Emergency under the National Emergency Act of 1976, which allows the Congress to review every six months it is appropriate to terminate the statement. The law provides for a quick procedure to advance a resolution in this direction and requires that it be put to a vote by word.
Speaking in the Senate, Schumer said the vote would raise "an important and vital constitutional question: does our country really have its checks and balances, especially important when we have such an overflowing president?"
"Democrats and Republicans should vote to end the president 's national emergency declaration," said Schumer. "You can be sure that we will ensure that everyone has the chance to do so within a month. If we do not do it, how many more emergencies will the president declare? Who else will he take money from?
The list of specific projects, which lawmakers did not have before the first vote to end the national emergency, covers virtually every aspect of military life in the world and includes a number of important items. Schools, as well as facilities in Puerto Rico that need to be repaired after Hurricane Maria swept the island in 2017.
Pentagon officials said the plans would continue, but Congress would replace the misappropriated money in the next spending process – something the Democrats insisted they do not do. Without the allocation of funds by Congress, projects will actually be canceled.
[ad_2]
Source link