Currents News Staff
President Trump made another pitch to Congress for his proposed border wall, during his State of the Union Address.
“Simply put, walls work and walls save lives,” said Trump.
But he’s not been shy about considering bypassing their approval and declaring a national emergency, to gain access to emergency funds instead.
“Having a national emergency does help the process. It would certainly help the process,” said Trump.
The United States is actually already under 31 states of declared emergency, according to a review of documents from the Congressional Research Service and the Federal Register.
One goes all the way back to the Carter administration, a response to the Iran hostage crisis in 1979.
President Trump has made three, including one to punish foreign actors found to interfere in U.S. elections.
Typically, they’re not controversial because there’s broad consensus, like President Bush’s declaration following the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
Congress can vote to overturn it, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wouldn’t say whether his republican-controlled chamber would do that.
“Well, we don’t know what route the president’s going to take so I’m not going to speculate on it at this point, As you know, it is an expedited procedure with a simple majority,” said McConnell.
If the President were to veto Congress, they’d need two-thirds of each chamber to override it.
The judicial branch may also have a say, if as expected, legal challenges questioned whether the President is overstepping his authority, and whether what’s happening at the border reaches the threshold to warrant such a move.