House to vote on bid to void border decree; Trump promises he’ll veto measure in wall-funds fight

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) heads to the floor for a vote on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Feb. 7, 2019.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) heads to the floor for a vote on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Feb. 7, 2019.

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats on Friday set a vote for next week on a resolution to block President Donald Trump from using a national emergency declaration to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The resolution is nearly assured of passing the Democratic-controlled House on Tuesday, and it could get enough GOP votes to pass the Senate with a simple majority. But Trump told reporters at the White House that he would veto the resolution "100 percent," and it would be difficult to muster the two-thirds vote in both chambers to override that veto.

Trump last week signed an emergency declaration to divert certain military funding for wall construction. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats have argued that Congress cannot let a president usurp the constitutional power of the legislative branch to control federal spending, hoping to win over conservatives who have been critical of the expansive use of executive powers.

"We battled against a monarchy; we did not intend to establish one in our country," said California's Pelosi, calling the president's declaration "lawless."

"This issue transcends partisan politics," Pelosi told reporters on Friday in Laredo, Texas, where she said she plans to tour the southwestern border with other lawmakers. "It's about patriotism."

Multiple lawsuits have already been filed to have the maneuver declared unconstitutional, but the simplest way to block it is for Congress to overturn the declaration. The National Emergencies Act of 1976 gives presidents the power to declare emergencies, but it also gives Congress the power to end the emergency status if the threat has dissolved or if there is concern that the president has used his powers irresponsibly.

"We prepared for the worst, because the president right now is engaged in the worst," said Pelosi, who declined to say if the House would formally support any legal action in court.

More than 220 Democrats and one Republican -- Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan -- have already signed on to the resolution of disapproval. The measure only needs 218 votes to pass.

Pelosi said she'd honor her oath of office and uphold the Constitution, adding of the president, "I wish he would have the same dedication to that oath of office himself."

A staff aide introduced the measure during a short pro forma House session in which Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., presided over an almost-empty chamber.

"What the president is attempting is an unconstitutional power grab," said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, the sponsor of the resolution, on a call with reporters. "There is no emergency at the border."

"If the Congress rolls over on this, the president is likely to do it again," he added.

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) is shown in this file photo.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) is shown in this file photo.

Trump's GOP allies promised they would uphold any presidential veto.

"Democrats' angst over Congress' power of the purse is unwarranted, especially since the commander in chief's authority to redirect military funds for a national emergency is affirmed in a law passed by their own branch," said Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. He called the Democrats' resolution "political expedience in action" because it likely can't overcome a veto.

PRESSURE ON SENATORS

The measure to block Trump's edict will be closely watched in the Republican-controlled Senate, where Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York said in a statement that identical companion legislation will soon be introduced.

"If the president's emergency declaration prevails, it will fundamentally change the balance of powers in a way our country's founders never envisioned," Schumer said Thursday. "That should be a serious wake-up call to senators in both parties who believe in the constitutional responsibility of Congress to limit an overreaching executive."

Although Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has some discretion over what legislation makes it to the Senate floor for a vote, the House resolution is privileged, meaning that federal law requires the Senate to take it up within 18 days of its passage in the House. That will challenge Republicans in the Senate to choose between supporting their president or defending Congress' power of the purse.

McConnell said last week on the Senate floor that he told the president he will support his emergency declaration.

The measure puts some Republicans from swing districts and states in a difficult spot, as many have expressed misgivings about Trump's action despite their support for his border-security agenda.

But U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Friday said she is also likely to support the resolution.

In an audio recording provided by an aide late Friday, Murkowski noted concerns she has raised about the precedent that could be set if the declaration stands.

When pressed on her position during a Friday night appearance on Anchorage TV station KTUU, she said: "If it's what I have seen right now, I will support the resolution to disapprove."

Moderate Republicans such as Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., have already signaled they would support the resolution. Democrats need four Republicans to secure the measure in the Senate, which the GOP now holds with a 53-47 majority.

For Democrats, the vote is another chance to challenge Trump over funding for a border wall, the issue that was central to the 35-day partial federal government shutdown and was one of the signature issues of Trump's presidential campaign.

Congress approved less than $1.4 billion for 55 miles of border barriers in Texas' Rio Grande Valley. Trump had sought $5.7 billion in the bipartisan budget bill, which would have paid to construct more than 200 miles of the wall.

The president hopes to divert $3.6 billion from military construction projects to build the wall on the southwestern border, effectively going around Congress to secure money that lawmakers have refused to give him. However, the administration is more likely to tap $2.5 billion from Defense Department anti-drug efforts and $600 million from the Treasury asset forfeiture fund, which he can do without relying on the emergency declaration.

However, using the anti-drug money will face its own set of problems.

The Pentagon has informed Congress that only $85 million remains in the anti-drug account, and that it will have to transfer funds from other military projects to replenish the account, which would then be used instead to build the wall, according to a Democratic aide to the House Appropriations Committee. The Pentagon traditionally would need House and Senate Democrats to sign off on such a reprogramming request.

Castro raised concerns about diverting money from military construction, possibly including projects at Joint Base San Antonio near his district. The lawmaker said he will reach out to Republican colleagues to build bipartisan support for his resolution to counter what he described as part of Trump's tendency to push "constitutional boundaries."

The Defense Department hasn't identified which accounts would fund the military construction funds for the wall.

Information for this article was contributed by Andrew Taylor, Nomaan Merchant, Becky Bohrer, Lolita C. Baldor and Alan Fram of The Associated Press; by Emily Cochrane of The New York Times; by Mike DeBonis of The Washington Post; and by Anna Edgerton, Erik Wasson and Billy House of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 02/23/2019

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