McConnell admits he doesn't have votes to prop up Trump's fake emergency

A majority of senators announced their intention to block Trump’s fake national emergency on the southern border. The vote would be both a stinging rebuke to Trump and an abject failure by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to prop up Trump’s failing agenda.

“I think what is clear in the Senate is that there will be enough votes to pass the resolution of disapproval,” McConnell said Monday morning.

Senate Democrats have opposed Trump’s fake national emergency since he announced it in mid-February. And over the weekend, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced his plan to join the Democrats, becoming the fourth Republican to do so. By teaming up with the Democratic-led effort, the handful of Republicans push the total number of votes to block the declaration to 51, ensuring the resolution will pass when it comes to the floor later this month.

In late February, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a simple, 54-word resolution to block Trump’s fake national emergency by a vote of 245-182. Under the provisions of the National Emergencies Act, McConnell is barred from preventing the House-passed resolution coming up for a vote in the Senate.

The votes come after Trump spent months begging and bullying Congress to hand him $5.7 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Congress repeatedly rejected Trump’s pleas, even after Trump took the paychecks of 800,000 federal workers hostage during a 35-day government shutdown.

During the shutdown, Trump threatened to issue a national emergency if he didn’t get his way. At the time, even McConnell opposed the idea. Yet McConnell eventually caved on his own principles and supported Trump’s questionably legal decision to declare an emergency.

Some of McConnell’s colleagues were not impressed with that decision. “You’re watching Mitch McConnell eat a manure sandwich in this whole process,” former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) said of McConnell raising the white flag.

In defense of Monday’s admission of defeat, McConnell added that he thinks Trump will reject the advice of Congress and veto the measure. McConnell added that he does not think Congress has the necessary two-thirds majority to override a presidential veto.

If the Senate does pass the resolution of disapproval, Trump would use the first veto of his presidency in a blatant attempt to usurp Congress’ constitutional authority to set funding priorities for the country.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump repeatedly and explicitly promised Mexico would pay for any wall along the border. After two years in office, Trump failed to convince Mexico to pay for it.

And when the Senate votes to reject Trump’s emergency, it will be yet another time Trump failed to convince Congress to force taxpayers to pay for it.

But Trump will toss aside campaign promises and the will of Congress in his unending obsession for a wall on the border.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.