Emergency foes close in on needed Senate votes

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Senate opponents of President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border moved within a hair Thursday of having enough votes to prevail, and one Republican suggested he risks a rebuff by the GOP-led chamber if he doesn’t change course.

Trump’s move would “turn a border crisis into a constitutional crisis,” veteran Sen. Lamar Alexander said on the Senate floor. But he stopped just short of saying he’d support a resolution blocking the president’s move. Had Alexander pledged his vote, it would probably be enough for the Senate to pass a measure repealing the emergency declaration.

Speaking later to reporters, Alexander, R-Tenn., warned what might happen if Trump doesn’t settle for using other money he can access without declaring an emergency.

“He can build a wall and avoid a dangerous precedent, and I hope he’ll do that,” Alexander said. “So that would change the voting situation if he would agree to do that.”

The Democratic-led House voted Tuesday to upend Trump’s declaration, which he declared to circumvent Congress and funnel billions of extra dollars to erecting his proposed wall.

Trump has promised to veto the effort to thwart him, and Congress seems all but certain to lack the two-thirds majorities in each chamber that would be needed to override his veto. But the showdown puts GOP lawmakers in a ticklish spot that party leaders are hoping to ease.

Republicans say a Senate vote is likely in two weeks, but exactly what the Senate will vote on remains unclear.

Several Republicans said that behind closed doors, they were considering several options for alternative language. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was among those suggesting provisions making it harder for future presidents to divert federal dollars to projects of their choosing by declaring emergencies.