Democrats put GOP in bind over national emergency vote

Democratic leaders are trying to box in Senate Republicans who are eager to head off a confrontation with President Donald Trump over his national emergency declaration on the southern border. Senate Republicans are attempting to get Trump to agree to change the National Emergencies Act to give Congress more power in exchange for some Republicans backing the president on the national emergency vote expected on Thursday. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called it a “fig leaf” deal, because Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) won’t take it up. “Do you hear me, my colleagues, my Republican colleagues. This won’t pass,” Schumer said on Wednesday morning as he implored the Senate GOP to vote with all 47 Senate Democrats to disapprove of the president. “This fig leaf is so easily seen through, so easily blown aside that it leaves the constitutional pretensions of my Republican colleagues naked.” With roughly a dozen Senate Republicans either committed to voting to disapprove of the president or weighing their options, some in the GOP are trying to cut a deal with the president to scale back his national emergency power so that Congress must approve future emergencies. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced legislation Tuesday that would end national emergencies after 30 days unless Congress votes in favor of it. Republicans want Trump to endorse it and then would consider standing with him on the disapproval vote. It’s unclear whether that compromise would cause the disapproval vote to fail, but it could significantly scale back defections. Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said even if Trump signs off on the changes he’d be “surprised” if enough Republicans change position to defeat disapproval resolution. But he added it might limit the number of defections. Yet Pelosi sought to render any commitment from Trump meaningless on Wednesday morning when she vowed that the House will not consider legislation scaling back national emergency powers for the president. “Republican senators are proposing new legislation to allow the President to violate the Constitution just this once in order to give themselves cover. The House will not take up this legislation to give President Trump a pass,” Pelosi said in a statement. Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine Source: https://ift.tt/2F17RI4 Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you. The Article Was Written/Published By: Burgess Everett ! #Headlines, #Congress, #Democrats, #FakeTrumpEmergency, #Political, #Politico, #Trending, #Trump, #Newsfeed, #syndicated, news https://ift.tt/2T2M9Zh
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