Live updates: Senate votes to block Trump’s national emergency | CNN Politics

Senate votes to block Trump’s national emergency

The U.S. Capitol is shown in Washington on January 19, 2018.
Senate votes to block Trump's emergency declaration
02:50 - Source: CNN

What we covered here

  • Resolution passes: The Senate has voted to block President Trump’s emergency declaration on the southern border, which funds his wall.
  • Republicans against Trump: Twelve Republican senators joined Democrats and voted for the resolution, rebuking the President on a central issue of his presidency.
  • The veto threat: The resolution now heads to the President’s desk — and Trump will likely issue the first veto of his presidency.
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Our live coverage of the Senate’s vote has ended. Scroll through the posts below to see how it unfolded or follow CNN Politics.

Plans underway for Trump to veto the resolution tomorrow, official says

Aides are hashing out a plan for President Trump to use his veto pen in front of cameras as soon as Friday, an administration official said.

The official said plans are underway for Trump to publicly veto the resolution rejecting his national emergency declaration.

According to the official, it would be surprising if Trump did not veto this measure at some kind of an event.  

Why Sen. Thom Tillis voted against the resolution

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis flipped his vote today on the emergency declaration disapproval resolution and voted against the measure because he was coming under tremendous pressure to remain loyal to President Trump, according to a North Carolina GOP official. 

The official said Tillis, who represents North Carolina, is “getting hit hard in the state…” over his initial embrace of the Democratic resolution rebuking Trump.

Why that matters: Tillis is almost certainly facing a primary challenge, the official said, pointing to Raleigh businessman Garland Tucker. 

Asked if he was worried about a primary challenge if he had voted for the disapproval resolution, Tillis said, “No, I’ve naturally assumed I was going to have a primary challenge. It usually happens in every election cycle in North Carolina.”

Tillis said that he had a “repeated number of discussions” with Vice President Mike Pence about the vote.

The House will likely hold veto override vote on March 26, aide says

The House will likely hold a vote to override President Trump’s upcoming veto on March 26, a House Democrat leadership aide told CNN.

Earlier today, the Senate voted to overturn the President’s national emergency border declaration. Twelve Republicans voted in support of the resolution to block Trump’s emergency order.

Trump later tweeted that he was looking “forward to vetoing” the measure.

Trump tweets "VETO" after Senate vote

President Trump tweeted “VETO” moments after the Senate voted to block his emergency declaration.

Twelve Republicans joined Democrats to reject the President’s executive action.

Trump later tweeted:

The bottom line: Lawmakers don’t have enough votes to override a certain veto from the President, but passage of the resolution in the Senate after it passed the House last month is nevertheless an embarrassing blow to Trump delivered by his own party over the President’s top campaign pledge of a wall at the US-Mexico border.

Democratic congressman calls for House vote to override the anticipated presidential veto

Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, the author of the resolution to terminate the President’s national emergency declaration, is urging the House to hold a vote to override the anticipated presidential veto. 

He said he was encouraged by the 12 Republican votes against the President on the Senate side. Castro said he will now speak to House leadership about putting this on the floor again. 

One thing to note: Two-thirds of a majority in both the House and Senate would be needed to override a presidential veto. 

Senate votes to block Trump's emergency declaration

The Senate voted to block President Trump’s emergency declaration, with 12 Republicans joining Democrats.

The final vote was 59 to 41.

What this means: The vote is a defeat for the White House. Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence campaigned against the measure and now Trump will be forced to veto the resolution – the first veto of his presidency. 

Enough senators have voted for the resolution to block Trump's national emergency

In a Senate vote that is still underway, enough bipartisan senators have voted to nullify President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency for the disapproval resolution to pass, according to an unofficial CNN count of the vote. It needed at least 51.

At this point in the vote, 12 Republicans voted for the measure.

Note: The outcome will not final until the vote is officially gaveled complete.  

These are the 12 GOP votes to terminate the national emergency declaration:

  • Sen. Roger Wicker 
  • Sen. Marco Rubio
  • Sen Rob Portman
  • Sen. Susan Collins
  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski 
  • Sen. Pat Toomey
  • Sen. Roy Blunt
  • Sen. Lamar Alexander
  • Sen. Mitt Romney
  • Sen. Rand Paul
  • Sen. Jerry Moran
  • Sen. Mike Lee

The Senate is now voting on the resolution

The Senate vote is starting now on a resolution to block President Trump’s emergency declaration on the southern border, which funds his wall.

Sen. Roy Blunt to vote yes on the resolution

Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, member of leadership and veteran appropriator, will vote YES on the national emergency, he told reporters.

Sen. Thom Tillis says he now plans to vote against the resolution

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis will vote “no” on the resolution to block President Trump’s emergency declaration.

That is counter to his op-ed from a few weeks ago when he said he’d vote with Democrats.

Here’s a portion of what he wrote:

A White House official told CNN that Vice President Mike Pence has been working the phones and helped flipped Tillis back to the no column. 

Sen. Rob Portman will vote to block Trump's national emergency

Sen. Rob Portman just announced that he will vote in favor of the resolution to terminate President Trump’s emergency declaration.

This makes 10 Republicans who will join Democrats.

Here are the Republican senators who may vote to block Trump's declaration

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey will vote for the resolution to terminate the President’s national emergency declaration, his spokesperson said.

Here are some of the other senators voting “no”:

  • Sen. Susan Collins
  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski
  • Sen. Mike Lee 
  • Sen. Rand Paul 
  • Sen. Mitt Romney 
  • Sen. Thom Tillis (Note: Tillis has been somewhat circumspect about his vote in the last few days as he’s worked on a compromise with the administration.) 

Likely “no” votes:

  • Sen. Lamar Alexander

GOP senator: "The national emergency right now is that Washington is in a mess"

Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson told CNN he’s voting against the resolution and talked to President Trump about it this week.

“I’m voting for border security,” the Georgia Republican said.

Asked if the President pushed him to vote against the resolution, Isakson would only say, “He may be a lot of things but he’s never— he’s straightforward, which is a good thing … he’s good about being precise.”

Isakson said he didn’t know how he was going to vote until about 11 p.m. last night after a lot of research. 

“The national emergency right now is that Washington is in a mess,” he said. 

Trump admits he "will probably have to veto" the resolution

President Trump, speaking to reporters in the White House, said he will “probably have to veto” a resolution that would block his national emergency.

The Senate is expected to vote on the measure this afternoon.

If he does veto the legislation, it would be his first as President.

Trump's tweet is "too little, too late," GOP aide says

Senate Republicans were caught off guard by President Trump’s tweet that he would support future changes to limit his authority on national emergencies, according to multiple aides — but it’s unlikely it will have a significant effect on the final vote count. 

It may sway a few on-the-fence senators, but the resolution is still expected to pass with a number of GOP defections.

Shortly after the President’s tweet, Sen. Mitt Romney announced he would support the resolution to terminate the national emergency. Sen. Lamar Alexander then came to the floor and called Trump’s declaration “inconsistent with the United States Constitution that I took an oath to support and defend.” An aide later told CNN he would also support the resolution to terminate the national emergency declaration. 

Ted Cruz was part of the last-ditch effort to lobby Trump

Sen. Ted Cruz

After spending Wednesday trying (unsuccessfully) to schedule a meeting with President Trump, a trio of Republican senators went the the White House last night to present Trump with a proposal related to his national emergency declaration. 

Sens. Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz were among the group of three senators who visited the President last night at the White House in a last-ditch effort to discuss concerns about the upcoming vote on his emergency declaration, sources familiar with the meeting confirmed to CNN.

The GOP lawmakers had tried earlier in the day to get an audience with Trump so they could discuss the vote, but White House staff prevented the meeting from taking place.

Trump now says he would support future changes to the National Emergency Act. He's rejected them before.

President Trump, in a reversal, said in a tweet Tuesday he would support future changes to the National Emergency Act. 

“If, at a later date, Congress wants to update the law, I will support those efforts, but today’s issue is BORDER SECURITY and Crime!!! Don’t vote with Pelosi!” Trump tweeted.

What this is all about: Republican senators have attempted to get Trump to commit to a bill to limit the President’s authorities on national emergencies in the future, but he has rejected those efforts.

Had Trump agreed, GOP senators predicted Republican defections on the resolution to terminate the national emergency would drop significantly. 

What it means: It’s completely unclear what, if any, effect the tweet will have on the vote total, which has been trending away from the President. The tweet, which followed a fresh veto threat on the resolution earlier this morning, caught Senate GOP aides off guard. 

Mitt Romney will vote for the resolution: "This is a vote for the Constitution"

Sen. Mitt Romney will vote for the resolution to block President Trump’s national emergency.

“This is a vote for the Constitution and for the balance of powers that is at its core,” he said in a statement. “For the Executive Branch to override a law passed by Congress would make it the ultimate power rather than a balancing power.”

Romney noted that his vote is not one “against border security,” and he said he agrees there needs to be a physical barrier on the border.

Here’s his full statement:

Today's vote could happen after lunch (but that's not official yet)

If you’re wondering when this vote will kick off today, note that nothing is official until Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announces it on the floor.

That said, aides in both parties say the target is in the early afternoon — sometime after lunch.

One more note on timing: This will be the last vote before a week-long congressional recess. Senators don’t want to prolong this process any longer than they procedurally have to. 

Two resolutions in the Senate are testing GOP allegiance to Trump
Senate Republicans divided ahead of vote on disapproval of national emergency
White House pressures Republicans to vote against national emergency rebuke
How many Senate Republicans are going to rebel against Trump’s border emergency?
Two resolutions in the Senate are testing GOP allegiance to Trump
Senate Republicans divided ahead of vote on disapproval of national emergency
White House pressures Republicans to vote against national emergency rebuke
How many Senate Republicans are going to rebel against Trump’s border emergency?