Republicans are bracing for a showdown with President Donald Trump over his emergency declaration for the border, with a resolution of disapproval expected to pass a vote with Republican support and leading to the president's first veto since taking office.
“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,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said during a press conference in his home state of Kentucky, reports The Hill.
McConnell on Monday said he supports Trump's emergency declaration, but he also had lobbied against the president's announcement, made in February after a Congressional funding bill, coming after a month-long shutdown, included just $1.375 billion for barriers at the border, not the $5.7 Trump had wanted.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said a veto override is likely to fail in the House, so he doesn't think Trump will be "calling anybody" in the Senate about their votes.
All 47 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus are expected to back the resolution, which is expected to come up for a vote before the Senate is out for a week-long recess starting March 15. In addition, Republican Sens. Rand Paul, Kentucky; Susan Collins, Maine; Lisa Murkowski, Alaska; and Thom Tillis, North Carolina; have all said they'll vote for the resolution.
Paul, in a Fox News opinion piece, said the president's emergency order contradicts “the will of Congress.”
There are also about a dozen Republican senators who remain undecided, reports The Hill.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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