House Democrats move to block Trump's national emergency declaration

PUBLISHED 20 MIN AGO | UPDATED 6 MIN AGO

Jacob Pramuk
@JACOBPRAMUK

KEY POINTS

House Democrats take a formal step to block President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration, introducing a resolution to terminate it.

The measure likely has the support to pass the House, but it faces a tougher path in the GOP-held Senate, and a likely veto from Trump.

Trump declared a national emergency after Congress denied him the money he wanted to build his proposed border wall.

House Democrats formally challenged President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration Friday, setting up dramatic votes in Congress on whether to rein in the president’s flex of executive power, according to the Associated Press.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, had prepared the measure to block Trump’s action, which he took last week to divert money to build his proposed border wall. Democrats have called the president’s move a power grab sparked by lawmakers denying him the funding he wanted to construct barriers between the U.S. and Mexico.

The Democratic-held House will “move swiftly to pass this bill,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote to Democratic lawmakers on Thursday. It appears to have the support needed to get through the House. On Thursday, Castro said “we have 222 cosponsors to terminate” the declaration, more than the 218 needed for a bill to pass.

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The challenge for Democrats starts when the proposal goes to the GOP-held Senate. Several Republicans have showed concerns about the precedent set by Trump’s declaration. The resolution will put pressure on them to choose between acting on professed worries about expanded executive power, or backing a president with strong support among GOP voters.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/22/house-democrats-move-to-block-trumps-national-emergency-declaration.html