The Senate will vote Wednesday for the second time this year to overturn President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southern border — but with an important difference.
‘If Republicans choose to stand with President Trump, they’ll be saying they fully support allowing the president to take money from our military to fund a border wall.’
But earlier this month that list was released, and senators now know the specific projects in their states that are being scrapped to make way for Trump’s wall. That creates new pressure for GOP senators, especially those up for reelection in 2020, to weigh their allegiance to Trump and his border wall against their support for much-needed projects at military bases and installations back home.
So far, such arguments appear to have done little to sway GOP senators who voted for Trump’s emergency declaration the first time around.
Senator John Cornyn R-TX) stated that he would uphold the president’s misuse of the emergency declaration. Should the president continued unimpaired, that would yank $38.5 million from important San Antonio and El Paso projects. The senator told reporters:
‘How would I square voting differently? There won’t be any net loss in my opinion.’
But Cornyn declared such concerns “way too parochial” and expressed confidence that the money for the Texas projects would ultimately be restored, even though Democrats have insisted they will not go along with that plan.
Under an obscure law, the White House has said that declaring a national emergency at the border allows the president to take money from military construction projects already approved by Congress and spend it on his wall instead. Democrats — and some Republicans — have tried to block him, without luck.
Trump issued the emergency declaration in February after a 35-day partial government shutdown that occurred because Congress refused to give him all the money he wanted for his wall.
The law allows Democrats to force repeated votes aimed at overturning the national emergency through disapproval resolutions that can pass with a simple majority vote. In March, 59 senators including 12 Republicans voted to overturn the national emergency, while 41 senators voted to uphold it. The resolution was ultimately vetoed by Trump, and Congress failed to override his veto.
The resolution up for a vote this week, which also must pass the House, similarly appears unlikely to survive a presidential veto.
The list of military construction projects being canceled, which includes 41 projects in 23 states, ranges from upgrading a middle school in Ft. Campbell, Ky., to building a shooting range at a base in Jackson, Miss.
Some of the projects are in the home states of the GOP senators who are considered most vulnerable in their reelection fights, and Democratic campaign committees and challengers have already been making plans to use the issue against them.
Featured image screenshot via YouTube.
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