Senate Dems introduce bill to block Trump’s immigration order

Senate Democrats introduced a bill on Monday in hopes of unraveling President Trump’s temporary immigration ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) spearheaded the bill, which would withhold funding to keep the administration from enforcing the order.

“Trump’s discriminatory executive order does not reflect who we are as Americans, and it puts our service members and the American public at risk,” Murphy said in a statement.

{mosads}He added that “both Republicans and Democrats criticized Trump for campaign promises of a ban on Muslims. Now that Trump’s hateful rhetoric is reality, it’s time for all Members of Congress to stand up and support our bill.”

Democratic Sens. Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Chris Coons (Del.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) and Chris Van Hollen (Md.) are backing the bill.

Democrats will need to win over at least 12 Republicans to get legislation through the upper chamber. Though dozens of GOP lawmakers have voiced concerns about Trump’s executive order, none has specifically said they would support legislation that undercuts it.

Murphy noted that his bill complements two separate proposals from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) also expected to be introduced on Monday.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is expected to try to force a vote on one of the Feinstein bills on Monday ahead of the rally against the executive order.