March 4, 2019
By Alex Henderson
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (click here) has announced that he expects a resolution blocking President Trump’s emergency declaration on the U.S./Mexico border to pass in the United States Senate. The Kentucky Republican told reporters, however, that he doesn’t believe the Senate has enough votes to override a presidential veto.
On Monday, McConnell told reporters, “I think 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.”
The resolution of disapproval is expected to come up for a vote in the Senate before Friday, March 15, when members of Congress will take a week-long recess. And it appears to have at least 51 votes, which is enough to pass in the Senate but not enough to override a presidential veto....
February 15, 2019
By Li Zhou and Emily Stewart
As Vox’s Sean Illing, (click here) who spoke with 11 experts about the legality of Trump’s declaration, laid out, there’s enough ambiguity in the law to let Trump declare an emergency. But the maneuver may not stand up to legal scrutiny once challenged in court. He is effectively trying to circumvent Congress — which is supposed to have the “power of the purse” and has decided against funding his border wall — and it’s not clear whether Trump can actually use the armed forces for the project. And his claim that there’s an emergency at the border that necessitates a border wall is dubious.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Friday that they were prepared to take multiple routes to try to block Trump’s efforts. “The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public, using every remedy available,” they said in a statement.
There are several different paths to challenging the declaration. Here are some of the most likely....
l. A joint Congressional resolution
2. A lawsuit against the White House due to Executive Branch Overreach
3. Landowners along the border can file a lawsuit against the White House
4. Groups, such as the ACLU, can sue the White House for human rights and civil rights violations
5. Effected states can sue the White House for Executive Overreach and the disregard of States Rights.
There are currently sixteen states that have filed lawsuits against the White House declaring their States Rights are being violated by an incompetent idea that leaves them less safe.
The alternatives include needed deployment of National Guard troops under the direction of the Governor. Texas has used it's National Guard successfully before when 1000 were sent to the Texas border when there was an influx of children a few years ago. I believe it was the city of Houston that extended their hospitality to those children and sponsored them. So the States have alternative methods they prefer.
In the case of California, human rights violations may play a big part in it's decision. The State of California has a long history of receiving the Undocumented at times when asylum was being sought. California has barriers, three of them and they are not necessarily happy with the condition of people as they cross those barriers either to defeat the wire or risking entrance into the ocean to go around the wall.
Other States may have varying reasons to oppose the national emergency declaration and considering these states have coped with border crossers for more than a century, they have very good standing to argue the infringement of federal authority along it's borders when it is not necessary at all.
