U.S. Senate Rejects Emergency Status for Border Wall Construction

On Thursday, March 14, the U.S. Senate approved a proposal to end the emergency status at the southern borders of the country. Twelve Republican senators joined the Democrats in the Senate, passing the proposal to reject the emergency status with 59 votes in favor and 41 against. Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney were among the Republican senators who supported the Democrats' proposal. Moments after the Senate vote, President Donald Trump tweeted: 'Veto!' A few weeks ago, Donald Trump declared a state of emergency using presidential powers. He warned that he would veto the Senate's decision to revoke this order. The President has 10 days to veto this congressional resolution. This would be the first time Donald Trump uses his veto power on a congressional resolution. If Trump vetoes this resolution, at least 67 votes in the U.S. Senate would be needed to override the President's action. Before the vote on Thursday, five Republican senators had announced their support for the House of Representatives' February resolution to revoke Trump's order. The passage of this bill in the Senate required at least four Republican votes in addition to the 45 Democratic votes and two independent senators' votes. However, 12 Republican senators supported it. Reuters reports that it is unlikely this proposal will become law because overriding a presidential veto requires two-thirds of the Senate's votes. On Thursday, Donald Trump warned that he would veto this bill if it passed in the Senate. Before the discussion on this bill in the Senate, Trump tweeted: 'I will veto it if necessary.' Vice President Mike Pence has recently met with Republican senators to reduce support for this bill. Some Republican senators are concerned that if a Democratic president comes to power in the next election, he could exploit the emergency law at the borders with congressional support to implement his desired policies. Reuters adds that Mike Pence told Democratic senators that Donald Trump would support another bill proposed by Republican Senator Mike Lee, which states that any future declaration of emergency would be canceled after 30 days unless Congress votes to extend it. Senator Lee stated on Wednesday that after discussions with the Vice President, he clearly announced that his proposed bill 'will not be implemented in the near future.' He added that he would vote to revoke the emergency status in the Senate session on Thursday. The crucial issue in this political battle between the two parties is Donald Trump's request for billions of dollars in funding to build the wall at the Mexican border, which Congress has so far opposed. The disagreement over this issue led to a 35-day shutdown of parts of the federal government, the longest in U.S. history. According to the emergency declaration at the U.S. borders signed by Donald Trump on February 15, he can use funds from other federal government departments to build the border wall, which he claims is essential to prevent illegal immigrants and drugs from entering the U.S. In contrast, Democrats argue that there is no emergency at the southern borders of the U.S. and point out that the number of crossings by migrants at the southern borders has decreased to the lowest level in four decades. Meanwhile, lawsuits have also been filed against Trump's decision, stating that according to the Constitution, decisions regarding federal government funding are the right of Congress, not the President.