DragonI

McConnell: Senate will pass resolution blocking Trump’s border emergency

www.politico.com

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Monday that the Senate will pass a resolution blocking President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration on the southern border.

The Kentucky Republican’s comments underscore his inability to shield the president from a bipartisan rebuke, though McConnell added that he expected the House to uphold the president’s veto.

McConnell’s Kentucky GOP colleague Rand Paul became the fourth Republican senator to join 47 Senate Democrats in supporting the House-passed disapproval resolution, which needs a simple majority to go to Trump’s desk. The Senate will vote later this month on the measure to stop Trump from unilaterally redirecting billions toward his border wall.

“What is clear in the Senate is that there will be enough votes to pass the resolution of disapproval, which will then be vetoed by the president and then in all likelihood the veto will be upheld in the House,“ McConnell said at an event in Louisville, Ky.

McConnell said Senate Republicans are studying whether it can amend the resolution but that “it’s never been done before,” and their options are unclear.

McConnell also made clear he tried to dissuade Trump from declaring the emergency, arguing that future Democratic presidents could use it to further liberal policy proposals: “That’s one reason I argued without success that he not take this route.”

Hillary Clinton Hits Back At Trump With List Of 'Real National Emergencies'

www.huffpost.com

Hillary Clinton has joined the chorus of disapproval surrounding President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to fund his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Clinton, Trump’s Democratic opponent in the 2016 election, on Monday tweeted a list of four issues that she considered to be “real national emergencies” ― gun violence, climate change, the Trump administration’s family-separation immigration policy and health care.

In the wake of Trump’s emergency declaration on Friday, Clinton retweeted this post calling it a #FAKENationalEmergency.

The real national emergencies: 

- Relentless gun violence. - Children separated from their families at the border. - Climate change. - Americans dying for lack of health care.

— Hillary Clinton‏ @HillaryClinton  - Feb 18, 2019

Trump just declared a #FAKENationalEmergency at the border. Trump is going around Congress, the will of the people, & abusing the powers of the presidency to build his hateful wall. There’s no time to waste - it’s time to mobilize to defend our democracy. Here’s what you can do:

— Indivisible Guide (@IndivisibleTeam) - Feb 15, 2019

Declaring a national emergency would be a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that @realDonaldTrump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for his wall.

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) - Feb 14, 2019

The 47 most outrageous lines from Donald Trump's wild national emergency declaration

www.cnn.com|Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

1. “We have a lot of great announcements having to do with Syria and our success with the eradication of the caliphate. And that’ll be announced over the next 24 hours.”

It’s been 96 hours. No “great” announcement yet. Although the general in charge of leading the fight against ISIS told CNN on Friday that he disagreed with Trump’s decision to pull troops out of Syria.

And away we go!

2. “And many other things. A lot of positive things are going on.”

Hard to argue! Many other things!

3. “We’re going to do it one way or the other. We have to do it – not because it was a campaign promise, which it is.”

So, the President is declaring a national emergency because “we have to do it,” not because he said we had to do it on the campaign trail. But ask yourself this: If it was such an emergency, why did Trump wait more than two years into his term to declare it one… ?

9. “Take a look at Israel. They’re building another wall. Their wall is 99.9% effective, they tell me – 99.9%.”

The border wall between Israel and Egypt is 150 miles long. The US border with Mexico is 2,000 miles long. Apples, please meet oranges.

10. “And a big majority of the big drugs – the big drug loads don’t go through ports of entry.”

Just to reiterate: Trump is wrong about this, according to his own administration.

47. "Nobody else would have done that. The Obama administration couldn't have done it."

So true. And, no, I am not totally sure what Trump is referencing here. But, he did it. And Obama didn't. This feels like a good place to end.

GOP Lawmakers Who Complained About Obama's 'Overreach' Give Trump A Pass

www.huffpost.com

The comparison between Trump’s emergency declaration and his predecessor’s executive action on immigration is not perfect; Trump is claiming authority via the National Emergencies Act of 1976, a legally dubious move in itself. But the case does illustrate the willingness of some Republicans to cheer on a president as he attempts to circumvent Congress ― as long as it’s for a priority they support…

While six previous presidents collectively declared dozens of national emergencies, Trump’s declaration over a border wall would be the first to finance a project that Congress explicitly refused to pay for.