House Democrats Pass Resolution Resolving Trump Emergency Statement: NPR

House Democrats are considering tabling a resolution on Friday to block President Trump 's emergency declaration to secure funding for the construction of a border wall.

The "disapproval resolution," led by Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, received the support of Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in a letter to lawmakers from both parties on Wednesday.

"I write to invite all members of Congress to adopt the privileged resolution of the co-sponsor of Congressman Joaquin Castro to end this declaration of urgency," wrote Pelosi, stating that the House " will quickly pass this bill ".

"The decision of the president to go beyond the scope of the law in an attempt to obtain what he has failed to achieve in the constitutional legislative process violates the Constitution and must be annulled", a- she added.

The president issued his emergency statement after Congress failed to approve his $ 5.7 billion request for the construction of a wall along the southwestern border into the US. part of the Homeland Security annual spending bill. An impasse over this issue resulted in a partial closure of the government earlier this year.

The closure came to an end when Trump signed a spending bill allocating $ 1.375 billion to the border fence. The emergency declaration would allow him to divert funds from $ 8 billion from other government projects and redirect funds to the border wall.

Sixteen states, led by California, filed a lawsuit in which they claimed that "the president used the excuse of a" crisis "invented illegal immigration to declare an emergency situation national ". The states say that Trump's action is unconstitutional because only Congress, not the president, has the power to control spending.

Approval of the resolution is widely expected in the House controlled by the Democrats. A vote of the Plenary Assembly is scheduled for mid-March. If the House passes the resolution, the Senate controlled by the GOP will be obliged to consider it.

It is not yet clear whether there are enough Republican senators who would join the Democrats to approve the resolution. Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she would support the resolution. But with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the Senate, three more Republicans should join Collins for the resolution to have a chance of passage.

Other Republican senators have expressed their dissatisfaction with the emergency declaration and some have to face tough fights during re-election, so that they risk hitting the president against the unpopular wall. from the border.

However, even if the House and Senate voted in favor of approving the resolution, it is unlikely that a two-thirds majority threshold will be reached in each chamber to override a presidential veto.