A dozen Republican senators on Thursday voted with Democrats to block President Trump’s declaration of an emergency at the southern border, a politically embarrassing rebuke to Trump that will set up the first veto of his presidency.
Trump declared the emergency to justify moving $3.6 billion from a military construction fund to a project to build physical barriers along the southern border. But that plan is opposed not just by Democrats but by many Republicans who worry Trump is testing or exceeding the boundaries of the National Emergencies Act.
In the House last month, 13 Republicans helped Democrats pass the resolution aimed at rejecting Trump’s declaration. Thursday’s 59-41 vote in the Senate will send it to Trump’s desk, and Trump has said he would veto it.
The 12 Republicans who voted against Trump included Roy Blunt, a member of the Senate leadership team.
“There are several existing authorities that could be used to support what President Trump wants to do at the border without creating a court case or declaring an emergency,” said Blunt, R-Mo., who is the Republican Policy Committee Chairman. “I have encouraged him to use those authorities.”
Other Senate Republicans who voted with Democrats were Lamar Alexander, Susan Collins, Mike Lee, Jerry Moran, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Rob Portman, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, Pat Toomey, and Roger Wicker.
Trump on Thursday made a last-ditch effort to salvage GOP Senate votes with a tweet promising to back future changes to the National Emergencies Act. But his sudden willingness to cut a deal with Congress came too late. On Wednesday, he rejected a bill authored by Sen. Mike Lee that would have given Congress veto-proof power to block future national emergency declarations by the executive branch.
By the time Trump was tweeting his willingness to back such a plan, some Republicans were publicly declaring support for revoking Trump’s current national emergency declaration.
But Trump made progress with one Republican: Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who said he would vote for the resolution but changed his mind after having what he called “very, very productive” talks with Trump about the issue.
[Related: Lindsey Graham led GOP intervention at Trump dinner on emergency declaration]
Republicans who voted against Trump fear the president’s declaration sets up future unilateral moves by the executive branch to implement Democratic priorities such as gun control or measures to combat climate change.
“This declaration is a dangerous precedent,” Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said Thursday morning. “Already, Democrat presidential candidates are saying they would declare emergencies to tear down the existing border wall, take away guns, stop oil exports, shut down offshore drilling and other leftwing enterprises — all without the approval of Congress.”
The resolution won’t immediately stop Trump from using the money. After Trump vetoes, it, the House and Senate can vote to override that veto, but the votes don’t appear to be there in the House to overturn Trump. About 50 more Republicans would have to vote with Democrats in the House to override, well short of the 13 who voted against Trump last month.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., won’t be required to take up a veto override vote even if the House somehow finds a way to pass it.
Trump will face more significant obstacles in the courts.
Sixteen states so far have sued to stop him from using the National Emergencies Act to fund the wall and legal experts believe Thursday’s congressional rebuke will hurt Trump’s chances of winning in court by giving opponents more legal standing to argue the move is not sanctioned by Congress and is not constitutional.
