Trump could use first veto over wall

Democrats controlling the US House of Representatives have teed up a vote next week to block President Donald Trump from using a national emergency declaration to fund a wall along the US-Mexico border, accelerating a showdown in Congress that could divide Republicans and lead to Trump’s first veto.

The Democrats introduced a resolution yesterday to block Trump’s declaration, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would vote on the measure on Wednesday.

It is sure to pass, and the Republican-controlled Senate may adopt it as well.

Trump quickly promised a veto. ‘‘Will I veto it? 100 per cent,’’ he told reporters at the White House.

The upcoming battle will test Republican support for the president’s move, which even some of his allies view as a stretch – and a slap at lawmakers’ control over the power of the federal purse.

If all Democrats and at least 55 Republicans vote for the resolution, it would pass by a vetoproof margin – a two-thirds majority.

‘‘What the president is attempting is an unconstitutional power grab,’’ said Texas Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro, the sponsor of the resolution. ‘‘There is no emergency at the border.’’

Trump’s edict is also being challenged in the federal courts, where a host of Democratic-led states such as California are among those that have sued to overturn his order.

Congress last week approved a vast spending bill providing nearly US$1.4 billion to build 89 kilometres of border barriers in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley while preventing a renewed government shutdown.

Trump wants to use an emergency declaration and other authorities to gain access to an additional US$6.6b for wall building. That money would be transferred from a federal asset forfeiture fund, Defence Department anti-drug efforts, and a military construction fund. –AP