GOP braces for showdown on wall emergency with Trump

Congress is on a collision course with President Trump over his national emergency declaration, setting the stage for the first veto of his administration.

A showdown appears all but inevitable with momentum building behind a resolution of disapproval, which clinched the votes needed to pass over the weekend and could pick up several additional Republican supporters ahead of a vote expected to take place in a matter of days.

Top Republicans signaled on Monday that they are resigned to it passing the GOP-controlled Senate, an embarrassing setback for Trump that will force him to use his first veto if he’s going to defeat the backlash from Congress.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters that it’s “clear” the resolution of disapproval will pass the Senate but predicted that it would die in the House, where a vote last week fell short of the two-thirds needed to override a veto.

“I think what is clear in the Senate is that there will be enough votes to pass the resolution of disapproval, which will then be vetoed by the president and then in all likelihood the veto will be upheld in the House,” McConnell said at a press conference in Kentucky.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an adviser to McConnell, added that he thought the vote would be “close” but that the outcome was “predictable.”

And Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close ally of Trump’s, predicted that the president wouldn’t be actively whipping senators since the veto override was likely to fail in the House.

“I don’t think he’s calling anybody,” Graham said.