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Trump vows veto as Democrats launch resolution to stop border emergency

Construction workers build a secondary border wall on February 22, 2019 in Otay Mesa, California. (Photo by AFP)

President Donald Trump has vowed to veto a possible resolution that aims to stop his declaration of a national emergency to build a wall along the US southern border.

Trump’s threat came on Friday a few hours after Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, said the House would vote on the measure on Tuesday.

The resolution was introduced by House Democrats in a bid to challenge Trump’s assertion that he could get funding from Congress to build his promised wall along the US-Mexico border.

Speaking to reporters, Trump vowed to veto the measure if it passed both chambers and got to his desk.

“On the wall? Will I veto it? One hundred percent. One hundred percent, and I don’t think it survives a veto. We have too many smart people that want border security, so I can’t imagine that it could survive a veto,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“What the president is attempting is an unconstitutional power grab,” Democratic US Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas said in a conference call with reporters.

Congress needs the two-thirds majority to be able to override Trump’s veto in order for the measure to take effect.

About 226 House lawmakers have joined the sponsor, Castro, in supporting the legislation, whose co-sponsors so far include one Republican, Representative Justin Amash of Michigan.

On February 15, Trump declared a national emergency to bypass congressional approval and secure funding for the construction of the wall.

The move will potentially divert billions of dollars from other projects such as military construction and drug-interdiction programs to finance the president’s wall.

Congress' refusal to provide Trump with the $5.7 billion he needs to build the wall resulted in the longest government shutdown in the US. On January 25, the president signed legislation to temporarily end the 35-day partial government shutdown, dropping his previous insistence on immediate funding for wall construction.

Democrats have called the wall unnecessary and accused Trump of trying to create the illusion of a security crisis on the border.


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