by Eric Lendrum
After the United States Congress voted to end President Trump’s national emergency declaration on the southern border, the President vetoed that resolution; yesterday, the Senate failed to override his veto, according to Politico.
The motion to overturn the president’s declaration, S.J. Res 54 (116), was passed in the Senate in late September with 54 votes in favor and 41 votes against; 11 Republicans sided with the Democrats in favor of the resolution. It was then passed by the House of Representatives with 236 votes in favor: Once again, 11 Republicans sided with the Democrats (224), along with Justin Amash (I-Mich.).
However, following the president’s veto, the Senate’s effort to override his veto fell far short of the required threshold: Only 53 senators voted to override the veto, with 36 against.
The full roll-call vote of the override motion shows that 11 senators were not present for the vote, including seven Republicans. Whereas 11 Republicans voted for the original motion, only 10 voted for the override: Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
Of those 10, only Rubio did not vote for the original motion to override the emergency declaration, as he was not present for the September vote. Additionally, two other Republicans who had voted to overturn the resolution were not present for the attempted veto override: Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).
President Trump declared the national emergency on the southern border following the longest government shutdown in American history, which started in December 2018 and ended in January 2019, lasting for 35 days. The shutdown was the result of a dispute between President Trump and Congress – including some Republicans – over his request for several billion dollars in funding for a border wall.
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Eric Lendrum graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the Secretary of the College Republicans and the founding chairman of the school’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter. He has interned for Young America’s Foundation, the Heritage Foundation, and the White House, and has worked for numerous campaigns including the 2018 re-election of Congressman Devin Nunes (CA-22).
