Democrats Will Force Senate Republicans To Decide On Trump’s National Emergency

Congressional Democrats will try to reverse President Donald Trump’s declaration of national emergency Friday. Democrats in the House will introduce a joint resolution to repeal the declaration, which Trump called in order to build his border wall.

Representative Joaquin Castro will file the resolution in the House. Democrats are broadly supportive of the move, which would be a major blow to President Trump’s agenda. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged Democrats to ensure its passage.

Congress has the right to reverse a national emergency if both chambers vote to end it. Democrats will win easily in the House, having won control last year, but the fate of Trump’s emergency will be decided in the Senate, where Republicans still have a majority

The resolution cannot be filibustered in the Senate and will only need 51 votes to pass. There are 47 Democratic senators, meaning just four Republicans need to peel off and vote against the President for the national emergency to end.

This puts the GOP in a difficult position. Many Republican senators have criticized Trump’s border wall but they may find it politically difficult to reverse his decision. The national emergency is unpopular with the American people but enjoys broad support from the Republican base.

The Senate must take up the House’s resolution within 18 days of its passage in the House and Republican leadership cannot prevent a floor vote. As several lawsuits are pending challenging the legality of the national emergency, Republicans will ultimately have to decide if they’re willing to vote against Trump.