Senate Votes on National Emergency

On Thursday, the Senate voted “59-41 to terminate the president’s emergency declaration on what Trump describes as a national security crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, but the final tally fell short of the required 2/3 needed to override a veto.” Twelve Republicans voted with Democrats in favor of termination. Axios

This is separate from the ongoing lawsuit filed by several states against the declaration. AP News

The left is accusing Republican senators of hypocrisy for siding with Trump’s power grab.

“The issue here isn’t whether there are big problems at the border. The issue is that Congress considered them and decided not to address them the way Trump wanted, so he used emergency powers to reverse that decision. That’s the precedent being set here, and it’s one Congress ignores at its peril.” (Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times)

The right is generally supportive of terminating the declaration, arguing that it was a usurpation of Congress’s authority over spending.

“The problem with the emergency declaration is that, even if it’s technically legal… it is clearly pretextual and a way to do an end run around the congressional spending power. The president himself in his press conference announcing the emergency said that he didn’t have to do it, but that he wanted to build new fencing more quickly than he could without the declaration.” (The Editors, National Review)