WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on President Donald Trump’s declaration of an emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border (all times local):
3:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump has issued the first veto of his presidency, overruling Congress to protect his emergency declaration for border wall funding.
Flanked by law enforcement officials as well as the parents of children killed by people in the country illegally, Trump says “our immigration system is stretched beyond the breaking point” and calls the congressional action “dangerous” and “reckless.”
A dozen Republicans joined with Senate Democrats on Thursday to back the joint resolution disapproving of Trump’s emergency declaration. The House had passed the same resolution last month largely along party lines.
It is unlikely that Congress will have the two-thirds majority required to override Trump’s veto.
Trump wants to use the emergency order to redirect billions in federal dollars earmarked for defense spending toward the southern border wall. It still faces several legal challenges in federal court.
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3:40 p.m.
President Donald Trump says the United States is facing an invasion and that our immigration system is stretched beyond the breaking point as he prepares to veto a resolution that blocked his declaration of a national emergency on the southern border.
Trump says the nation’s immigration laws are dangerous for the country and have to change.
Trump is likely to prevail on his national emergency declaration. Overturning a veto requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House and Senate. But there doesn’t appear to be enough votes to override it.
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1:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump will sign the first veto of his presidency Friday, a day after Congress vote to terminate the national emergency Trump declared at the southern border. His declaration was an effort to circumvent Congress to secure more money for his proposed border wall.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley says in an appearance on Fox News that the president will be signing the veto at 3:30 p.m. in the Oval Office. He says Trump will be joined with law enforcement as well as the parents of children killed by people in the country illegally.
Hogan is calling this “a sad moment and a very important moment” and says the vote against the president is also a vote “against the America people and their safety and security.”
Republicans joined Senate Democrats in blocking the order but there do not appear to be enough votes for an override.
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12:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump is poised to issue the first veto of his presidency after a dozen defecting Republicans joined Senate Democrats to block the national emergency he’d declared at the border. That declaration was an effort to circumvent Congress to secure more money for his southern border wall.
The bill was hand-delivered to the White House around 5:30 p.m. Thursday evening. And Trump made clear how he plans to respond, tweeting the word “VETO!” in all-caps moments after Thursday’s vote.
White House spokeswoman Mercedes Schlapp would not say when the veto would happen, but told reporters Friday Trump is “doing what he believes is his constitutional duty, which is to protect the American people.”
She also says the president “is incredibly disappointed” with Republicans who voted against him.
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12:38 a.m.
A dozen defecting Republicans joined Senate Democrats to block the national emergency that President Donald Trump declared so he could build his border wall with Mexico. The rejection capped a week of confrontation with the White House as both parties in Congress strained to exert their power in new ways.
The 59-41 tally Thursday, following the Senate’s vote a day earlier to end U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen, promised to force Trump into the first vetoes of his presidency. Trump had warned against both actions. Moments after Thursday’s vote, the president tweeted a single word of warning: “VETO!”
Two years into the Trump era, a defecting dozen Republicans, pushed along by Democrats, showed a willingness to take that political risk.
