• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Congress>
  3. balance of power>

Upcoming votes on wall ‘emergency’ also about preserving functional democracy

David Hawkings
February 26, 2019

This afternoon marks the most consequential vote of the Trump era when it comes to preserving the rule of law and the balance of powers – two essential ingredients in a functional democracy.

The House is expected to vote around sundown on a measure that would countermand President Trump's declaration of a national emergency. His order would reallocate congressionally approved spending to a border wall Congress has made clear it does not want.


Passage is a virtual certainty, because the Democrats have 235 votes (17 more than the minimal majority) and "no" votes from any of them would be a huge surprise. So all eyes will be on the Republican side, where members are palpably aware their votes will be remembered for reasons that have only a little bit to do with toughening the American posture against illegal immigration.

A vote against the legislation may fairly be portrayed as a vote in favor of permitting a president to redefine the meaning of the rule of law, by allowing him to overtly bypass Congress even after it's made quite clear it's not going to give him his way.

In addition, opposing the "resolution of disapproval" may be dispassionately described as a vote in favor of giving away more of the legislative branch's own prerogatives, by permitting the executive branch to wield a "power of the purse" that is supposed to be the sole province of lawmakers under the Constitution's Article I.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

The odds remain super long that 55 Republican House members and 20 GOP senators would vote against President Trump – the numbers that would be required to assure an override assuming he gets his chance to veto the pending legislation.

Any ultimate acquiescence by the Republicans would have consequences extending well beyond the current presidency. But they would also have repercussions in the near term. That's because once again putting their intense partisan loyalties ahead of their clear institutional self-interests would signal that a critical mass in the GOP may never coalesce to confront Trump – maybe not even in the sort of constitutional crises matters that could yet flow from special counsel Robert Mueller's findings or the work of other federal and state prosecutors.

Only one House Republican, the libertarian Justin Amash of Michigan, is co-sponsoring the measure to thwart Trump's $4 billion wall spending workaround. The leadership is working to keep the number of GOP "yes" votes to fewer than a dozen, hoping that relatively small number would tamp down the momentum for the measure in the Senate.

At least two dozen or more Republicans have publicly expressed disapproval of Trump's move but not committed to opposing him. In an attempt to woo them, Politico reports, "Democrats have circulated a spreadsheet of hundreds of military construction projects that the White House could potentially take money from for its border project. The document shows billions of dollars are at stake in red states from Alaska to Georgia to Texas."

Under special rules for efforts to reverse presidential emergency declarations, senators must vote on the House-approved measure within 18 days and no filibuster is permitted. If the 47 Democrats stick together (the one possible defector looks to be West Virginia's Joe Manchin) then four Republicans would be needed to get the bill on Trump's desk.

Three of those GOP votes are now in hand: Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine, who both face tough re-election fights next year, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The others who look most likely to join them are Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who's retiring next year; Cory Gardner of Colorado, who's expecting a tough race in 2020; Marco Rubio of Florida; and Mitt Romney of Utah. At least half a dozen other Republicans have not announced how they would vote.

Related Articles Around the Web
  • Can Trump declare a national emergency for his border wall? He ... ›
  • House fails to override Trump's veto over national emergency wall fight ›
  • Congress Blocks Trump's National Emergency Declaration To Build ... ›
  • Trump National Emergency Declaration: Latest Updates & Reaction ... ›
balance of power

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Confirm that you are not a bot.
×
Follow
Contributors

Why does a man wearing earrings drive Christians crazy?

Paul Swearengin

DeSantis' sitcom world

Lawrence Goldstone

Hypocrisy of pro-lifers being anti-LGBTQIA

Steve Corbin

A dangerous loss of trust

William Natbony

Shifting the narrative on homelessness in America

David L. Nevins

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane
latest News

Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Joe Weston
02 June

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
01 June

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

David Butler
01 June

Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

James-Christian B. Blockwood
31 May

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

Mia Minkin
31 May

Podcast: Why Is Congressional Oversight Important, and How Can It Be Done Well? (with Elise Bean)

Kevin R. Kosar
Elise J. Bean
30 May
Videos

Video: Why music? Why now?

David L. Nevins

Video: Honoring Memorial Day

Our Staff

Video: #ListenFirst Friday YOUnify & CPL

Our Staff

Video: What is the toll of racial violence on Black lives?

Our Staff

Video: What's next for migrants seeking asylum after Title 42

Our Staff

Video: An inside look at the campaign to repeal Pennsylvania’s closed primaries

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
01 June

Podcast: AI revolution: Disaster or great leap forward?

Our Staff
25 May

Podcast: Can we fix America's financial crises?

Our Staff
23 May

Podcast: Gen Z's fight for democracy

Our Staff
22 May
Recommended
Why does a man wearing earrings drive Christians crazy?

Why does a man wearing earrings drive Christians crazy?

Diversity Inclusion and Belonging
DeSantis' sitcom world

DeSantis' sitcom world

Opinion
Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Pop Culture
Video: Why music? Why now?

Video: Why music? Why now?

Big Picture
Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Technology
Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Budgeting