WHITE HOUSE: PRESIDENT READY TO VETO DISAPPROVAL OF EMERGENCY
US President Donald Trump is prepared to issue the first veto of his term if Congress votes to disapprove his declaration of a national emergency along the US-Mexico border, a top White House adviser said on Sunday.
White House senior adviser Stephen Miller told “Fox News Sunday” that “the president is going to protect his national emergency declaration.”
Asked if that meant Trump was ready to veto a resolution of disapproval, Miller added, “He’s going to protect his national emergency declaration, guaranteed.”
Digging in
The West Wing is digging in for fights on multiple fronts as the president’s effort to go around Congress to fund his long-promised border wall faces bipartisan criticism and multiple legal challenges. After lawmakers in both parties blocked his requests for billions of dollars to fulfill his signature campaign pledge, Trump’s declared national emergency on Friday shifts billions of federal dollars, earmarked for military construction, to the border.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra told ABC’s “This Week” that his state would sue “imminently” to block the order, after the American Civil Liberties Union and the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen announced on Friday that they were taking legal action.
Democrats are planning to introduce a resolution disapproving of the declaration once Congress returns to session and it is likely to pass both chambers.
Several Republican senators are already indicating they would vote against Trump—though there do not yet appear to be enough votes to override a veto by the president.
Beyond emergencies
The White House’s Miller insisted that Congress granted the president wide berth under the National Emergencies Act to take action.
But Trump’s declaration goes beyond previous emergencies in shifting money after Congress blocked his funding request for the wall, which will likely factor in legal challenges.
Trump aides acknowledge that Trump cannot meet his pledge to build the wall before the elections next year.