The U.S. Senate has voted to block President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration for funding to build additional wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. Missouri Republicans Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley have split their votes. Hawley voted in support of Trump’s declaration and Blunt opposed giving Trump and future presidents such power.
President Donald Trump speaks at the Project Safe Neighborhoods conference in Kansas City on December 7, 2018 (photo courtesy of Joyce Boghosian at the White House)
“I fully support President Trump’s commitment to secure the border and build physical barriers wherever they are needed,” says Blunt in a press release. “I have repeatedly said that securing the border has to be the first step in addressing our immigration issues. 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. I have encouraged him to use those authorities.”
Blunt goes on to say the issue will be settled in the courts.
“That could take months and result in future Presidents having emergency authority to use in other ways,” says Blunt. “Democrats have already made clear that they believe they could use this same authority to impose policies like gun control or the Green New Deal. Those decisions should not be made without congressional action. I was aggressively opposed to the Obama administration’s attempts to circumvent Congress’s appropriating authority to prop up Obamacare. The same principle should apply regardless of which party occupies the White House.”
Hawley stands behind the President, who strongly campaigned last year in support of Hawley’s U.S. Senate campaign.
On the emergency declaration for the border, I’m with President @realDonaldTrump. He has the legal authority from Congress to declare this emergency and there should be no doubt the crisis at the border is an emergency situation pic.twitter.com/tZWetj7omK
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) March 7, 2019
Trump is expected to veto the resolution but the Senate does not appear to have enough votes to override a likely veto.
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