Construction crews replace a section of the primary wall separating San Diego, above right, and Tijuana, Mexico, below left, Monday, March 11, 2019, seen from Tijuana, Mexico. President Donald Trump is reviving his border wall fight, preparing a new budget that will seek $8.6 billion for the U.S-Mexico barrier while imposing steep spending cuts to other domestic programs and setting the stage for another fiscal battle. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Republican-led Senate is set to deal President Donald Trump a rebuke on his declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border, with the only remaining question how many GOP senators will join Democrats in defying him.
Republicans are predicting that Thursday’s showdown vote will result in Congress sending Trump a resolution blocking the border emergency he proclaimed last month to steer an extra $3.6 billion to building border barriers.
Since the Democratic-controlled House approved the measure last month, the Senate vote would force Trump to use a veto to protect his presidential campaign’s “Build the Wall” mantra over objections from his own party.
“It was called turn out the lights, the party’s over,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., recalling a favorite refrain of “Monday Night Football” announcers when a game was out of reach. “Well, that’s appropriate right now.”
A section of border wall, used for training, is visible behind Vice President Mike Pence, center, and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, center left, as they pose for a photograph with Border Patrol agents following a border wall training demonstration at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Advanced Training Facility in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., Wednesday, March 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Senate passage of the resolution was all but ordained Wednesday after the collapse of efforts by the White House and GOP senators to reach compromise on separate legislation by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, limiting presidents’ powers to declare emergencies in the future.