Last Friday, exercising the first in his so-called “presidency,” Trump vetoed the Congressional resolution to overturn his National Emergency Declaration over US-Mexico border wall.
There’s a possibility that Congress could overrule this veto if both branches have the votes to do so, but unfortunately, at this point, it doesn’t look like they will. However, it does look like Republicans are looking to make it easier to terminate future resolutions if the “president” attempts to abuse his power again.
According to Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio):
‘It’s an institutional issue, it’s a congressional authorities issue. We have the power of the purse. Under the National Emergencies Act, there was too much latitude that was given away … and we need to pull that back some and let it be used for legitimate national security purposes.’
Senator Marcio Rubio (R-FL) also stated that in the wake of this fight over Trump’s border wall, there is a “unanimity” in the GOP conference over making changes to this law in order to keep it from being used improperly.
According to recent reports:
‘Even GOP senators who sided with Trump are interested in the broader issue.
‘“I would like to revisit the emergency powers that Congress has provided to the executive branch,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who voted with Trump. “I do think it’s going to be a healthy debate to have.”
‘McConnell told reporters after a closed-door conference lunch that there was “a lot of discomfort with the law” among Republicans and that they were “discussing” ways it could be altered.
“If Congress has grown uneasy with this law, as many have, then we should amend it. If the 116th Congress regrets the degree of flexibility that the 94th Congress gave the executive, the 116th Congress can do something about it,” McConnell added separately during a floor speech, announcing that he had asked Johnson to look into legislation on the issue.’
That’s right. Even Mitch McConnell is afraid of what Trump might do in the future now that he has tasted some of the power that comes with abusing the National Emergencies Act, and so does Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who said:
‘I don’t know of any president that likes to give up power, but clearly Congress has been asleep at the switch.”
The Democratic House will hold a vote to overturn Trump’s veto on March 26th. There’s still a chance that they will succeed, but in the high degree of probability that they don’t, a congressional aide said that Schumer is prepared to hold a vote every 6 months until they do.
Featured image via YouTube screenshot.
