Now that the Trump administration has released the list of military construction projects being stripped of funding to pay for a border wall, Senate Democrats are holding another vote against Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration. The previous vote to overturn the emergency declaration drew 12 Republicans, and now there are Republicans who know their states are taking a direct hit.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is calling the vote, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cannot block and which requires only a simple majority to pass. “This rises to a large and vital constitutional issue: does our country truly have checks and balances, particularly important when we have such an overreaching president?” The Washington Post reports that Schumer will say in a floor speech. “This vote will also provide a chance for senators to prevent the president from stealing military funding from their states to foot the bill for an expensive and ineffective wall he promised Mexico would pay for.”
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis opposed Trump’s emergency declaration, then did an about-face and voted to support it. His home state of North Carolina is losing $80 million, and he’s up for reelection in 2020. Sen. Martha McSally previously supported the emergency declaration because she said she’d gotten assurances that Arizona wouldn’t lose money. Now that Arizona is losing $30 million, she says it’s okay because the project being defunded had run into problems anyway. McSally faces a tough 2020 race after losing in 2018 and being appointed to replace the late Sen. John McCain.
Trump will veto a bill to overturn his national emergency, but forcing Republican senators—especially the ones up in 2020—to show voters where they stand on this issue is a good move by Democrats.