The US House of Representative will next week vote on a piece of legislation aimed at overturning the national emergency declared by President Donald Trump.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the legislation has been filed and lawmakers will vote on it on Tuesday.
She said the declaration is “lawless” and warned that it “does violence to our Constitution and therefore our democracy.”
Members of Congress all swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution. On Tuesday, the House will vote on @JoaquinCastrotx’s legislation to defend the separation of powers following @realDonaldTrump’s decision to ignore the bounds of the law with his emergency declaration.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) February 22, 2019
She said the President’s “power grab” is a threat to the Constitutional balance of powers in the US adding, “we battled against a monarchy; we did not intend to establish one in our country.”
Texas Democrat Joaquin Castro, who authored the bill, said he has gathered at least 222 co-sponsors for it – which is more than enough to ensure its passage through the house.
I ask all members of Congress — Democrat and Republican — to support this joint resolution to terminate President Trump’s unconstitutional national emergency declaration to build his border wall. It sets a dangerous precedent and steals congressional authority. Will you sign on? pic.twitter.com/WSNFyAqvRS
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) February 15, 2019
Only one House Republican has agreed to support it so far, with Castro noting that “historic unity” across parties will be needed to “counteract the president’s parasitic movement.”
It remains unclear whether the measure has any chance of passing through the Republican-held Senate – with only one Senate Repubican publicly backing it thus far.
The national emergency is also being challenged in the US federal Court system.
16 Democrat-held states - led by California - have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration accusing the president of misusing his power and treating the rule of law with contempt.
President Trump declared the emergency last week – in a bid to divert billions of dollars from military construction funds to pay for the project.
The wall was one of President Trump’s key campaign promises, although he continuously insisted Mexico would front the bill.
Making the announcement, he said he expected legal challenges – but said he expected to eventually win out in the US Supreme Court, which shifted to the Right with Trump’s appointment of Judge Brett Kavanaugh last year.
