Senate

Senate fails to override Trump veto over emergency declaration

by Jordain Carney - 10/17/19 2:24 PM ET

The Senate on Thursday failed to override President Trump’s veto of a resolution that would have ended the emergency declaration intended to help build the border wall.

Senators voted 53-36, falling short of the two-thirds needed to successfully override Trump’s veto.

Ten Republican senators voted to override Trump’s veto: Sens. Roy Blunt (Mo.), Susan Collins (Maine), Mike Lee (Utah), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rand Paul (Ky.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.).

The vote came less than a day after Trump vetoed the resolution, which initially passed by the House and Senate last month.

{mosads}Trump, in his veto message to the Senate, said the national emergency has allowed the administration to “counter large-scale unlawful migration” and facilitated the construction of his long-promised border wall.

“In short, the situation on our southern border remains a national emergency, and our Armed Forces are still needed to help confront it,” he added.

Trump declared a national emergency earlier this year after Congress gave him less than $1.4 billion for barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. As part of the declaration, Trump shifted $3.6 billion away from military construction projects to go toward the wall.

The move infuriated both Democrats and Republicans, who publicly warned him against using his emergency powers to build the wall. GOP lawmakers, in particular, worried that it would let a future Democratic president leapfrog Congress on issues like gun control or climate change.

But the veto override had been expected to fall short after the resolution initially passed the Senate with only 54 votes, including the support of 11 Republican senators.

It’s the second time Congress has failed to override Trump’s veto of a resolution nixing his emergency declaration. The House tried, unsuccessfully, in March to override Trump’s initial veto.

Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), one of the co-sponsors of the resolution nixing Trump’s declaration, urged his colleagues to support the resolution, arguing Congress needs to push back on the executive branch.

“It’s up to this body to assert our constitutional authority and override that veto. Not only is it a fundamental constitutional principle at stake, the president’s emergency declaration has real-life impacts, impacts to our national security and impacts to the 23 states whose projects are now gone,” Udall said.