Sept. 27 (UPI) — President Donald Trump is certain to issue the sixth veto of his presidency after both houses of Congress again rejected his national emergency declaration, which is designed to bypass lawmakers to find funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The House approved legislation by a vote of 236-174 Friday to overturn the declaration, issued in February. The Senate also approved the resolution, which will now force Trump to veto the bill.
Eleven House Republicans and a Republican-turned-independent voted with Democrats to block Trump’s maneuver, which aims to divert billions in Pentagon funding to the southern border.
“The president’s decision to cancel $3.6 billion for military construction to pay for his wasteful wall makes America less safe,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
The last time Trump overrode Congress, the Senate wasn’t able to supersede his veto. Whether the upper chamber has enough votes to override another veto is again the question this time.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the issue of taking money from military projects could be solved if Democrats simply approved more defense funding.
“The only reason there could be any trade-off between border security and these other priorities is their refusal to support common-sense border security,” he said.
