House Minority Whip Steve Scalise said Tuesday he was confident Democratic attempts to kill President Trump’s border emergency declaration would ultimately die in Congress.
House Democrats are expected to pass a resolution Tuesday aimed at nullifying Trump’s emergency declaration, but if it passes the Senate, Trump is expected to veto it. Scalise predicted that once the resolution returned to the House, an override wouldn’t happen.
“When you see the vote today, there will be nowhere near the votes to override a veto,” Scalise told reporters in a press conference ahead of a resolution terminating Trump’s declaration being brought to the House floor on Tuesday evening. “This emergency declaration will be upheld, even if it makes its way through the Senate, which hopefully it doesn’t get passed the Senate, but ultimately we’re going to stand with the president.”
Scalise, R-La., was adamant Trump was on “strong legal ground” by issuing his declaration, even though congressional Democrats and some Senate Republicans are questioning its legality and its constitutionality.
[Related: Trump at risk of losing Senate vote on border funding]
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Tuesday reiterated that Trump had the authority to declare the emergency, which would permit the administration to divert funds from the Department of Defense, supplementing the $1.375 billion approved by Congress to finish building a physical barrier along the southern border. McCarthy said he wasn’t concerned about the precedent the president was setting should a Democrat reclaim the White House in the future.
“A number of presidents, Republican and Democrat, have used this power for numerous things and they have the power to do it. Congress has voted to allow it,” he said.
Congress can overturn executive national emergencies by adopting a joint resolution. If Trump vetoes the resolution, the measure is sent back to the legislature, which can override the president’s decision with support from two-thirds of the House and the Senate.
