Senate Dems Have The Votes To Pass Block Of Trump’s “Emergency”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has announced that he will vote against Trump and with Democrats on a resolution to block the “national emergency.”

Rand Paul says no to Trump’s emergency powers

The Bowling Green Daily News reported:

In a speech to the crowd of nearly 200 Republican officeholders and supporters at Western Kentucky University’s Augenstein Alumni Center, Paul interjected, in a speech devoted largely to praising the work of President Donald Trump, his opinion that Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border is a dangerous precedent.

“I can’t vote to give the president the power to spend money that hasn’t been appropriated by Congress,†Paul said just moments after drawing applause for his praise of some Trump policies and his ridicule of some congressional Democrats. “We may want more money for border security, but Congress didn’t authorize it. If we take away those checks and balances, it’s a dangerous thing.â€

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Democrats now have the votes to send a bill overturning the national emergency to Trump’s desk

Paul joins his fellow Republican Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Thom Tillis as GOP voters for the resolution. These four Republicans in combination with all 47 Democrats means that there are now enough votes in the Senate in favor of overturning Trump’s national emergency to send the resolution to the president’s desk for a veto that will set up a showdown between Trump and the Senate.

Unless those in favor of the resolution can get to 67 votes, they will not be able to overturn Trump’s veto, but the passage of the resolution will be used be in court as evidence that Trump is defying the will of Congress and abusing his power in an unconstitutional way.

If more Republicans jump on board to support the resolution, Trump’s national emergency could be in big trouble.

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