By Susan Cornwell, Reuters/
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday failed to override President Donald Trump’s first veto, leaving in place the “national emergency” he declared last month to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall that Congress has not funded.
Democrats who control the House did not attract enough Republican support to reach the two-thirds majority vote needed to overturn Trump’s veto. Just 14 Republicans joined 234 Democrats in voting to override, one more Republican than had bucked Trump in a previous House vote on the border wall emergency. One Democrat and two Republicans did not vote.
With the 248-181 tally, Trump is now likely to continue scouring federal accounts for money he wants redirected to building a border wall, his signature issue.
However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed lawmakers would keep trying to block Trump’s move through the regular congressional process of appropriating funds, as well as reviewing his declaration of emergency again six months from now.
The battle over Trump’s emergency declaration also shifts to the courts, with various legal challenges already underway. A coalition of 16 states sued in February to block Trump’s move.
Trump declared the national emergency on Feb. 15 in an attempt to bypass Congress and move taxpayer funds for the wall away from other uses already approved by the legislature. Bipartisan majorities of both the House and Senate rejected his move, voting to terminate the emergency before the president vetoed their resolution on March 15.
Democrats argued the Republican president had overstepped his authority by going around Congress, because the legislature has the power to control spending under the U.S. Constitution.
“We take an oath to the Constitution, not to the president of the United States,” Pelosi said on the House floor.
But Republicans insisted Trump had acted legally under a 1976 law known as the National Emergencies Act, under which previous presidents had declared dozens of emergencies.
“The president has the authority to act. The president is using the authority Congress has given him,” said Republican Representative Sam Graves.
Trump’s position on Tuesday was possibly strengthened by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusion after a 22-month investigation that the Republican president’s campaign team did not collude with Russian interference in the 2016 election. Moscow has denied meddling.
That political victory for Trump may make it more challenging for Republicans to defy the president on a range of issues, including his border emergency.
“Even though the two issues clearly aren’t related, it increases the president’s strength and popularity and puts him in a stronger position,” Republican Representative Tom Cole said before the vote.
After the vote, Pelosi said Congress would keep working through the appropriations process to “terminate this dangerous action” by the president.
Indeed, earlier Tuesday, the House Armed Services Committee sought to deny the Pentagon the authority to reprogram funds for the wall, an action that could potentially set up another courtroom battle.
The Pentagon had announced Monday that it was shifting $1 billion from military construction projects to build part of the wall. But Democratic Representative Adam Smith, the Armed Services Committee’s chairman, said Tuesday the panel did not approve the proposed use of Pentagon funds.
BYPASSING CONGRESS
For two years, Congress has refused to meet Trump’s demands for funding the wall he promised in his 2016 election campaign, although it appropriated some funds for border fencing and other barriers.
Trump has made clamping down on illegal immigration a cornerstone of his presidency, and it promises to be central to his 2020 bid for re-election.
His drive for billions of dollars to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall – one that he initially promised Mexico would pay for – has placed a wedge between him and Congress, including some Republicans who are uncomfortable talking about a wall.
Many in Congress say effective border security requires a range of law enforcement tools, and Democrats dispute Trump’s claim there is a crisis at the border.