Category: national emergency

Duckworth: Senate Has Votes to Formally Disapprove of Trump Emergency Declaration

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Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) there are enough votes in the U.S. Senate to pass a resolution disapproving of President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration on the U.S.-Mexico border. Duckworth said, “I think we do. Now, whether we have enough for an override and veto, that’s a different story. But frankly, I think there’s enough people in the Senate who are concerned that what he’s doing is robbing from the military and the DOD to go build this wall.” She added, “Frankly the president is trying to take the power of the purse away from the legislative branch. We are co-equal branches of government, and he’s trying to do executive overreach, and it’s uncalled for.” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

Limbaugh: Immigration Is an Emergency — Our ‘Culture’ at Risk from ‘Parade of Illegal People Who Are Uneducated’

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On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” nationally syndicated conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said President Donald Trump was right to declare a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border to build a wall. Limbaugh, “We have an emergency. This is an invasion. The very existence and definition of American culture, American society, the rule of law. Why does nobody talk about the fact that millions and millions and millions of people are breaking the law coming here illegally and that the Democrat Party wants that to happen?” He added, “It is undeniable that we have a major immigration problem and a political party that needs a permanent underclass of voters that wants that parade of illegal people who are uneducated, don’t even speak the language, they want them here. It is a crisis.” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

Dem Sen. Brown on Nat’l Emergency: Republicans Telling Us Trump Is ‘Acting Childish,’ ‘Violating the Constitution’

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Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said Republicans are telling Democrats privately that President Donald Trump was “acting childish and is violating the Constitution” with his national emergency declaration. Brown said, “Well, this is the first kind of emergency we’ve seen like this that a president has done this. He couldn’t get the Mexicans to build the wall. Couldn’t get Congress to vote the money in. This is the, in fact, the first emergency declaration like this with that kind of construct where he got turned down by Congress and then went ahead and did it. That’s why you see so many Republicans saying don’t do this.” He continued, “Republicans are afraid he’s going to take the money from somewhere else in something they care about but fundamentally, they think it’s a president who failed who hates to lose who is acting childish and is violating the Constitution. Republican after Republican is telling us that privately.” He added, “We will have a vote on this likely in the next two or three weeks. See if those Republicans show the backbone that they generally haven’t shown standing up to this president in the past. But this is

Clyburn: I’m Not Optimistic Disapproval Resolution on Emergency Declaration Passes Senate – ‘Great Possibility’ House Sues

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On Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “AM Joy,” House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) stated that there’s “a great possibility” the House of Representatives will sue President Trump over his emergency declaration and that he isn’t optimistic the Senate will pass a resolution of disapproval. Clyburn said, “I really believe the votes are there in order to pass a resolution of disapproval. … And hopefully, the Senate will agree. Now, I don’t hold out any hope that they will. And I certainly know that if they were to agree with us, the president would probably veto it.” Host Joy Reid then asked, “[I]s there a possibility that the House of Representatives might sue the president, as the Republicans attempted to sue President Obama when they didn’t like, I believe it was over the Affordable Care Act or DACA?” Clyburn answered, “There’s a great possibility. I think Speaker Pelosi has spoken to that. But the fact of the matter is, by the time you get back up there in another week and get a suit done, we’ll be about 15th in line. Because I think there must be four or five suits already.” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

Brooks: Emergency Declaration Is Trump ‘Giving Himself a Performance Trophy’

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On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks stated that President Trump’s national emergency declaration is the president “giving himself a performance trophy” after he lost the government shutdown. Brooks said, “Yeah, well, this is awful. You know, I don’t think it has anything to do with any invasion, as he claimed. I think he lost the government shutdown, so he’s giving himself a performance trophy, so he can say, I’m a winner. I think this is more about his psyche than anything actually in the country. And it is a complete violation of any constitutional position that any liberal or any conservative should believe in.” He later added that the emergency declaration is “an even more egregious grab of White House power” than President Obama’s executive actions. Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

Maher: Trump’s Emergency Declaration Is ‘More of That Slow-Moving Coup’

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On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that President Trump’s national emergency declaration is “more of that slow-moving coup that I keep talking about.” Maher said, “[T]his is fundamental, really serious, democracy hanging by a thread kind of stuff, it is. It’s more of that slow-moving coup that I keep talking about. The rule since 1787 in this country has been Congress is the one who decides how we spend the money, okay? Trump found a line somewhere in America’s laws that said yes, except if a president declares a national emergency. Now, of course, the only thing that stopped all the other presidents from doing this before it is that they had some respect for what our country is built on. But, one weapon that does not work on this president is saying good people wouldn’t do that. It’s like using sarcasm on Siri.” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett