Trump Loses the Senate A dozen Republicans send a message about the power to spend.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-loses-the-senate-11552605214
“A dozen Republicans defected, and the dissenters represent a broad cross-section of the Republican conference. Susan Collins of Maine and Mike Lee of Utah are seldom ideological comrades, but both voted yes. Other override votes included Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Utah’s Mitt Romney, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.”
The Senate voted Thursday to override President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the southern border, and Mr. Trump said even before the vote was over that he’ll veto the resolution. While the 59-41 vote won’t have immediate policy impact, the magnitude of the 12 GOP defections is a warning about the needless harm Mr. Trump is doing to himself and his party.
Democrats were united against the emergency, and let’s stipulate that their motives are largely partisan. “This will be a vote about the very nature of our Constitution, our separation of powers, and how this government functions henceforth,” said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, apparently without irony.
Where were Mr. Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when President Obama violated the separation of powers again and again to achieve his policy goals? Senate Democrats gave Mr. Obama a blank check on recess appointments, environmental and financial regulation, ObamaCare spending without appropriations, work permits for illegal immigrants, and much more. The courts later rebuked Mr. Obama on all of them.
The GOP opposition is more sincere and significant because it comes at some political cost. Mr. Trump has been banging away on Twitter that a vote to override is a vote for “open borders” and for Nancy Pelosi’s agenda. That’s false, but it’s never easy to vote against a sitting President of one’s own party on such a high-profile issue as immigration.
A dozen Republicans defected, and the dissenters represent a broad cross-section of the Republican conference. Susan Collins of Maine and Mike Lee of Utah are seldom ideological comrades, but both voted yes. Other override votes included Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Utah’s Mitt Romney, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi. These aren’t liberals.
Many of these Senators agree that the southern border deserves more funding, and even a wall, but they think Mr. Trump is abusing his authority to spend money for purposes that Congress hasn’t appropriated.
The GOP also rightly fears how a Democratic President would misuse “emergency” powers to promote policies that a GOP Congress refused to endorse. Several Senators who voted with Mr. Trump in this case nonetheless favor amending the National Emergencies Act to check the President’s discretion.
Mr. Trump put Senators running for election in 2020 in a particular bind. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Martha McSally of Arizona and Ben Sasse of Nebraska all voted with the President. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who had earlier said he’d vote to override the emergency, changed his mind and also voted with Mr. Trump. They clearly didn’t want to offend the President and his supporters. But the Senators have now created a political opening for their Democratic opponents. Mr. Trump is doing needless harm to his party’s chances of keeping Senate control in 2020.
Mr. Trump should be careful not to test the limits of GOP Senate loyalty. He’ll need those votes to counter House Democrats and sustain his foreign policy. Seven Republicans on Wednesday joined Democrats to vote for a resolution that aims to cut off U.S. involvement in Yemen. Mr. Trump will now soon have to veto that too.
Watch out at the White House if Republican Senators start feeling more liberated to show the President the same lack of consideration he’s showing them.
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