House Fails to Override Trump Veto on Southern Border Emergency

President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border survived a critical vote in the House on Tuesday, as Democrats failed to muster the necessary two-thirds majority to override his veto.

The vote was 248-181, well short of the 288 that would have been required. The vote effectively ends – for now – legislative attempts to strike down Trump’s national emergency declaration. Now the fight over his attempt to circumvent Congress to get more money for his border wall will shift to the courts.

Congress sent Trump a bipartisan disapproval resolution earlier this month that sought to nullify the national emergency declaration. Lawmakers of both parties said the emergency declaration represented a dramatic intrusion into Congress’s authority over government spending.

In floor debate ahead of the vote Tuesday, Democrats insisted Trump was violating the Constitution’s separation of powers, while Republicans argued he was acting within his authority under the National Emergencies Act to address a genuine crisis at the southern border.