By: Matthew Melchor
After the longest government shutdown in United States history, President Donald Trump and Congress agreed to a compromise that did not include funding for “The Wall,” which Trump hopes to build along the United States-Mexico border. To work around this, Trump declared a national emergency to build his wall, shifting $3.6 billion from military construction projects to begin the process. However, the House of Representatives voted 245-182 in favor of a bill blocking the emergency on the wall. According to The Washington Post, The White House wrote a letter to lawmakers threatening to veto the bill, stating they would be undermining the administration’s ability to respond effectively to the ongoing crisis at the border. With the bill still needing to pass through the Senate, three Republican Senators have stated they will vote with the Democrats to block the national emergency declaration. Maine’s Susan Collins, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and North Carolina’s Thom Tillis have made it publicly clear that they will not vote in favor of party. The Democrats need only one more GOP vote to swing in order to pass the bill, providing all Democrats and Independent supporters follow.
