Posted on 03/12/2019 4:15:07 PM PDT by jazusamo
More than a dozen Republican senators introduced legislation on Tuesday that would make it easier for Congress to terminate future national emergency declarations, days before the chamber will vote on President Trump's.
The legislation, spearheaded by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), would require that Congress pass a resolution extending an emergency declaration after 30 days for it to continue, otherwise it would be terminated.
“If Congress is troubled by recent emergency declarations made pursuant to the National Emergencies Act, they only have themselves to blame. Congress gave these legislative powers away in 1976 and it is far past time that we as an institution took them back. If we don’t want our president acting like a king we need to start taking back the legislative powers that allow him to do so," Lee said in a statement. In addition to Lee, GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Ron Johnson (Wis.), Jerry Moran (Kansas), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Roy Blunt (Mo.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Todd Young (Ind.), Mitt Romney (Utah), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Roger Wicker (Miss.) are supporting the legislation.
The legislation—known as the Assuring that Robust, Thorough, and Informed Congressional Leadership is Exercised Over National Emergencies, or ARTICLE ONE, Act—would be a significant change to the mechanism Congress has to block a national emergency declaration.
Currently, Congress has to pass a resolution of disapproval to block Trump's emergency declaration on constructing the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Trump is expected to veto the resolution and neither chambers are expected to be able to override that veto.
Trump's emergency declaration has sparked a widespread discussion among Senate Republicans about if they should change the National Emergencies Act. Though Republicans largely support Trump on border security they are concerned that a future Democratic president will use his precedent to force through issues like climate change or gun control.
Lee's legislation would not impact Trump's current emergency declaration on the wall but, if passed, would impact any future emergency declarations.
Senators are discussing changes to the emergency powers law with the White House but it's unclear if Trump would support reining in his own executive authority, and he's consistently bristled at attempts by Congress to force his hand on legislation.
Blunt, a member of GOP leadership, said that Trump had raised concerns about executive overreach by previous presidents and that supporting Lee's legislation would give him a chance to get back in line with his campaign rhetoric.
"Well the president had problems with a candidate with the Obama overreach, so he's been on record for some time on this topic," he said. "I think this will give him a chance to get back to where he was three years ago."
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters on Tuesday that Republican senators were looking at amending the law.
"We're looking at some ways to revisit the law. There's a lot of discomfort with the law. …Was it too broad back in the 70s when it was passed? So yeah, we're discussing altering that," McConnell told reporters during a weekly press conference.
Asked if he would support Lee's legislation, McConnell added that he "may well."
I’ll make my calls and send emails tomorrow.
The party of the Galactically Stupid!
I am mystified that so many people here are outraged by an article they clearly haven't read. The bill will not affect Trump's declaration at all.
I am mystified that so many people here are outraged by an article they clearly haven't read. The bill will not affect Trump's declaration at all.
Well said...Congress gave this power to the President and now they want to control how it’s carried out.
Bump!
Un believable dumb shits
It is still a BS bill. It is not hard to understand. These guys are quislings.
These repugnant useful idiots don’t seem to understand we’re in a war and that they are siding with the enemy.
I’m with you on that. Trump gets our wall.
We will have to see if this was okayed in order to keep enough GOP Senators from voting against the current emergency declaration in front of them.
Agreed...Chances are slim to none that POTUS would sign it especially if they force a veto on the joint resolution.
The Republicans are not so much a political party as a lobbying front for the Chamber of Commerce and other corrupt Big Business/Open Borders groups.
I’ve dubbed them the Stupid Party!!!
We’ll see who can think and who can’t.
Seems you can dish out the snark but don’t take well when on the receiving end.
Lee has shown anti Trump sentiment before this.. but some of those names... what is their legit reasoning for voting against this? And how did they let obama send all that cash to an enemy of our country?
The border HAS to be closed... this is an invasion!!
I support Trump doing this because if the left is going to cheat, I'm all for fighting fire with fire. But letting him get his order and then restoring a more normal balance is a good idea.
I couldn’t agree more.
This is a critical time for border security and many in the GOP are not supporting POTUS because of personal animus in my view.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.