Opinion: Another craven GOP capitulation to Trump’s anger and bullying
By Greg Sargent Greg Sargent Opinion writer covering national politics Email Bio Follow Opinion writer March 13 at 9:33 AM Senate Republicans have a major problem on their hands. Due to a quirk in the law that they no doubt find very inconvenient, they will have to cast a vote on President Trump’s declaration of a fake national emergency to build a border wall — a wall that wouldn’t actually address the problem that supposedly justifies the declaration in the first place.
This measure would not terminate Trump’s national emergency, and the 30-day provision wouldn’t even retroactively apply to it. As Sen. John Neely Kennedy put it, this would allow Republicans to “express their concern” about Trump’s use of the emergency power, while simultaneously giving them a “way to express their support for the president.”
In conversations with staff members and lawmakers, the president has made an emotional case for opposing the resolution, telling them that a vote in favor would be seen by their constituents as “a vote against border security” and warning that such a move would be regarded as disloyalty, according to three Republicans with direct knowledge of his actions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Republicans also know the basis for the declaration of the national emergency is itself utter nonsense. As it is, Trump regularly cites the spike in families coming to the border to seek asylum. That spike is real, but those people are largely turning themselves in … to seek asylum, which means a wall would not solve that problem. And remember, Republicans themselves did not give Trump his wall money when they totally controlled Congress.
The 30-day measure wouldn’t do anything about that problem. In fairness, having Congress vote more often might be a good thing. But this measure is certain to fail in any case — there’s no way enough Democrats will help it pass, given that it evades dealing with Trump’s current emergency.
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