93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
The U.S. Senate has voted to block President Trump’s emergency declaration for funding to build a wall at the southern border.
Missouri Senators Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt split their votes Thursday, with Hawley backing the president and Blunt backing the resolution.
In a statement, Blunt said he fully supported Trump’s commitment to securing the border, but does not support giving the current and future presidents such power.
“There are several existing authorities that could be used to support what President Trump wants to do at the border without creating a court case or declaring an emergency,” he said. “I have encouraged him to use those authorities.”
More about the vote from The Associated Press:
In a stunning rebuke, a dozen defecting Republicans have joined Senate Democrats to block the national emergency that President Donald Trump declared so he could build his border wall with Mexico.
The rejection capped a week of confrontation with the White House as both parties in Congress strained to exert their power in new ways.
The 59-41 tally Thursday, following the Senate’s vote a day earlier to end U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen, promised to force Trump into the first vetoes of his presidency. Trump had warned against both actions. Moments after Thursday’s vote, the president tweeted a single word of warning: “VETO!”
Two years into the Trump era, a defecting dozen Republicans, pushed along by Democrats, showed a willingness to take that political risk.
(This story was last updated at 6:58 a.m. Friday.)
