Dems to Introduce Measure Blocking Trump's Emergency Declaration

House Democrats are slated to introduce a privileged resolution as soon as Friday in an effort to stop President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration to build a barrier along the Southern border, according to a Democratic aide.

News ID: 443598

Date: 23 February 2019 - 13:11

RNA - Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) is leading the efforts on the measure, which was first reported by The Associated Press.

The resolution has reportedly garnered the support of 90 Democratic co-sponsors. It's less likely to see movement in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is backing the Castro resolution and urging colleagues to support it, according to The Hill

"The President’s decision to go outside the bounds of the law to try to get what he failed to achieve in the constitutional legislative process violates the Constitution and must be terminated," Pelosi wrote in her "Dear Colleague" letter.

The speaker took the unusual step of sending the letter to both Democrats and Republicans in the House.

She added that Castro's privileged resolution will move quickly --- it will be reported within 15 calendar days and moved to the House floor for consideration within three days after that. Pelosi noted she hopes the upper chamber will move on the resolution after it's passed in the House.

Trump declared a national emergency on Friday to reallocate billions of dollars to fund construction of a barrier at the US-Mexico border. Lawmakers provided $1.375 billion in funding for border fencing as part of the massive spending bill passed by Congress last week.

The move to declare a national emergency for additional border funding was met with strong pushback from Democrats as well as some Republicans, who argued it was a power grab by the president after he failed to secure the money in negotiations with congressional leaders.

Sixteen states have joined a lawsuit filed this week against the emergency declaration.

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