In a rush to block President Trump’s border wall, House Democrats will vote to overturn Trump’s declaration of a border emergency without even holding a hearing on the issue to discuss it.
House Judiciary Committee Democrats announced they will hold a hearing Thursday on Trump’s emergency declaration – two days after the House is scheduled to vote on a resolution aimed at blocking Trump.
It’s the kind of departure from “regular order” that the minority often complains about, regardless of which political party is in charge. This time around, the Democratic majority is defending the move to rush the measure to a vote.
A top Democratic aide said the vote is happening quickly and without a hearing in part because because Trump’s move to redirect federal money is “an emergency situation.”
Trump this month declared a national emergency to justify using $3.6 billion in military construction funding to build physical barriers along the southern border.
In the hours following Trump’s announcement, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., sent the president a letter opposing the declaration and announcing his plan to grill White House officials about it at a hearing now scheduled for Thursday. By then, the resolution will already be in the Senate, where lawmakers will have 15 days to take it up for a vote.
[Related: Justin Amash cosponsors Democratic resolution to block Trump’s border emergency]
The Democratic leadership aide said the House will also forgo the typical committee vote on the measure to revoke the national emergency.
The measure falls under the jurisdiction of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Chairman Pete DeFazio, D-Ore., was not interested in holding a mark up of the measure, the aide said. A DeFazio spokesperson has not responded to a request for a comment on the resolution.
The move to vote quickly to revoke the emergency declaration appears to deviate from a plan outlined by Pelosi in a letter to House lawmakers last week, in which she said the House will “move swiftly to pass this bill, reporting it out of committee within 15 calendar days and considering it on the Floor within 3 calendar days following that.”
The Democratic aide said the House Rules panel, which sets the terms for the debate and vote on most resolutions and bills, would suffice as official committee consideration.
“This is not complex legislation,” the aide said.
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, authored the measure to revoke the emergency declaration. Pelosi last week credited Castro with formulating the resolution well in advance of Trump’s announcement, allowing for faster consideration. Castro is not on the Transportation and Infrastructure panel.
“Because of the work you started weeks and weeks ago, we are ready,” Pelosi said in a conference call with Castro.
