Senate vote expected before March 15.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s national Emergency to build a border wall with Mexico looks like it will be overturned by Congress with Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, saying that he would vote in favour of a resolution passed by the House and now being considered by the Senate.
“I share his [Mr Trump’s] view that we need more and better border security,” Mr Paul wrote in an article for Fox News’s website. “However, I cannot support the use of emergency powers to get more funding, so I will be voting to disapprove of his declaration when it comes before the Senate.”
Three Republicans senators, Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Thom Tillis (N.C.), have already said they will vote to overturn the Emergency. Assuming none of the 47 Senate Democrats (includes independents who vote with Democrats) defect, Mr Paul’s vote will provide the required simple majority of 51, to get the resolution through.
The House, last Tuesday, passed a resolution overturning (245-182) the Emergency , with 13 Republicans voting with Democrats.
The Senate has to, by law, fast-track a vote on it without the option of a filibuster. A vote is expected before Congress goes into recess on March 15.
Mr Trump had declared a National Emergency on February 15 to divert an additional $3.6 billion from military construction funds to supplement what Congress had given him last month, $1.375 billion for 55 miles of border fencing.
Mr Trump himself has suggested the Emergency is unnecessary. “I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster,” he had said, suggesting that he had declared an Emergency just to speed up funding for the wall. The President also faces several lawsuits questioning the legality of the Emergency.
If the Senate passes the resolution it will find its way to Mr Trump’s desk where he will almost certainly veto it. A two thirds majority in each chamber of Congress is required to overturn a Presidential veto — a situation that is unlikely to occur, given the current numbers in the Senate.