House fails to override Trump veto of his border emergency

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-controlled House fell short today in its effort to override President Donald Trump's first veto, handing him a victory in his drive to spend billions more for constructing barriers along the Southwest border than Congress has approved.

Lawmakers voted 248-181 in favor of overturning his veto, mostly along party lines, but that was 38 votes shy of the number needed for the required two-thirds majority.

The outcome, not a surprise, enabled Trump to move forward on an issue that was a hallmark of his 2016 presidential campaign and of his presidency. Yet the vote also gave Democrats a way to refocus on policy differences with Trump, days after Attorney General William Barr gave the president a political boost by saying special counsel Robert Mueller had concluded that Trump had not colluded with Russia to influence his election.

Congress sent Trump a resolution this month annulling the national emergency that Trump had declared at the US-Mexico border. That included passage by the Republican-led Senate, in which 12 GOP senators – nearly 1 of every 4 – voted with Democrats to block him.

Trump vetoed that measure almost immediately.

Trump had declared the border emergency under a law that lets him shift budget funds to address dire situations. His plan is to shift an additional $3.6 billion from military construction projects to work on border barriers. Congress voted this year to limit spending on such barriers to less than $1.4 billion, and Democrats called his declaration a gambit for ignoring lawmakers' constitutional control over spending.

"We take an oath that we must honor" to protect the Constitution," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaking on her 79th birthday. "The choice is simple, between partisanship and patriotism. Between honoring our sacred oath or hypocritically, inconsistently breaking this oath."

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, called Trump's declaration "constitutional vandalism."

Republicans said Trump was merely acting under a law that gives presidents emergency powers, and was trying to head off Democrats with little concern about border security.