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Congress May Block National Emergency Declaration

Trump border wall
Trump border wall
Washington Report

The House on Tuesday is expected to pass legislation that would reject President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the southern border.

The bill is expected to pass the Democrat-controlled House and has some support among Republican senators, according to reports. It is not clear if the measure would attract a veto-proof majority.

On Monday, Trump called the legislation a Democrat “trap” and urged Republicans to reject it.
“I hope our great Republican Senators don’t get led down the path of weak and ineffective Border Security,” the president tweeted. “Without strong Borders, we don’t have a Country - and the voters are on board with us. Be strong and smart, don’t fall into the Democrats “trap” of Open Borders and Crime!”

The president made the emergency declaration in an attempt to gain funds for a wall on the border with Mexico. The declaration opens a pool of roughly $8 billion that includes some funds earmarked for military construction and counter-drug efforts that could potentially be redirected to build a wall that was a prominent topic of Trump’s presidential campaign and, in more recent months, one of the driving forces of a lengthy partial government shutdown.

In addition to the proposed legislation, the emergency declaration also must stand against several legal challenges.

In the meantime, Pentagon leaders have recently toured the southern border to discuss ways the military can aid the Department of Homeland Security.

Officials have also announced they will send 1,000 more service members to the border, which will bring the total of active-component and National Guard forces there to more than 6,000.

Some Democratic governors —including California, New Mexico and Wisconsin — have recalled their Guardsmen from the border.