Senate

Graham: ‘Handful’ of GOP senators will vote to block Trump’s emergency declaration

by Jordain Carney - 02/22/19 12:13 PM ET

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) predicted on Friday that a “handful” of Republicans will back a resolution to block President Trump’s emergency declaration to construct the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

“A handful. … [But] there will be enough [left] to sustain a veto,” Graham told Fox News, asked how many Republicans would vote with Democrats in the Senate.

{mosads}Graham didn’t offer a specific number for how many of his Republican colleagues he thinks will back the resolution.

He said that he would “absolutely not” vote for the Democrat-led resolution, adding that he is “100 percent with the president.”

Graham, who has emerged as a vocal ally for Trump in the Senate, also accused Democrats of “hypocrisy” on border security and argued they were opposing the president’s plan because “they just hate Trump.”

“I hope Republicans will not reward this, quite frankly,” Graham added on Friday.

Trump announced last week that he would declare a national emergency to construct the U.S.-Mexico border wall after Congress passed a bill that gave him $1.375 billion — well below the $5.7 billion that he requested.

The move sparked a political firestorm, with lawmakers preparing to try to derail his emergency declaration.

The House is expected to vote on a resolution on Tuesday that would block the declaration.

Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) is the only Republican co-sponsor of the House resolution so far, though Democrats are expected to try to pick up more bipartisan support.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a Thursday statement that Senate Democrats would introduce a companion resolution “soon,” and urged Republicans to support the measure.

If all 47 Democrats voted for the resolution to block the declaration, they would need to win over four Republicans to send the measure to Trump’s desk, where White House officials expect he would use his first veto of his term.

Several Republican senators have raised concerns about, or voiced objections to, Trump’s emergency declaration, raising the prospects that a resolution could pass the chamber initially.

But Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) is the only Republican senator who has said that she would vote for the resolution.

“I don’t know what the vote situation will be in the Senate, nor do I know exactly what that resolution will say, but it is a privileged matter. That means that it will come before the Senate for a vote, and if it’s a clean disapproval resolution, I will support it,” she told reporters in Maine on Wednesday.

Tags Chuck Schumer Donald Trump Justin Amash Lindsey Graham National Emergency declaration Susan Collins