Last updated on February 5th, 2019 at 03:23 pm

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Republicans are in a freak out over Trump‘s threat to declare a national emergency to get his wall because Speaker Pelosi can force Senate Republicans to vote on the emergency.

Greg Sargent of The Washington Post reported:

Elizabeth Goitein, who has researched this topic extensively for the Brennan Center for Justice, tells me that if Pelosi exercises this option, it will ultimately require the Senate to vote on it in some form as well. The NEA stipulates that if one chamber (Pelosi’s House) passes such a resolution, which it easily could do, the other (McConnell’s Senate) must act on it within a very short time period — forcing GOP senators to choose whether to support it.

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The NEA lays out a timetable for this process, and by Goitein’s reading, it would all take place within the protracted period of barely longer than a month. “In short, there could be 36 days between introduction of the resolution in the House and a vote on the Senate floor,” Goitein told me, “but that vote would have to happen,” and once it did, one way or the other, it would put senators “on record.”

Trump will lose any Senate vote on his national emergency

There are enough Senate Republicans, perhaps 20, who will oppose Trump‘s power grab because it violates the separation of powers. Senate Republicans are worried that if Trump gets away with his national emergency, the precedent will be set for a future Democratic president to declare a national emergency on healthcare or climate change. The wall is wildly unpopular, and most Senate Republicans don’t want to go on the record as supporting it. When this vote happens, Trump will lose, and all hell could break loose.

Pelosi and House Democrats will sue Trump but are going to also make Republicans own the wall

A national emergency declaration is not going to end well for Trump and McConnell. Senate Republicans don’t want Trump to declare an emergency, and if he does, there will be lawsuits from House Democrats, and Senate Republicans will not escape unscathed.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association