House Passes Resolution Aimed At Blocking President Trump's National Emergency Declaration

The House of Representatives passed a resolution late Tuesday afternoon that would terminate President Trump's national emergency proclamation, which is also being challenged in court by a multi-state lawsuit.  

The final vote of 245 to 182 fell largely along party lines, but 13 Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the measure. 

The bill now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate, which must vote on the measure within 18 days. Mr. Trump has vowed to veto the resolution if it reaches his desk.

Introduced by Democrats last week, the measure would reverse the implementation of the president's controversial proclamation, which he is relying on to unilaterally access $3.6 billion in military construction funds to build his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"This is the most consequential vote that we've taken with respect to the separation of powers probably in decades and with respect to the balance of power in the constitution between the president and Congress," Democratic Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro, the proposal's lead sponsor, told reporters Tuesday morning before the vote.

Although both Senate and House Republican leadership have backed Mr. Trump's declaration, several Republicans have criticized the president's decision to bypass Congress and its constitutional power of the purse. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has vouched her support for the bill, while Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins has denounced the president's declaration for its "dubious constitutionality."

While some GOP senators like Collins and Murkowski are expected to break with the White House and cross the aisle to vote with their Democratic colleagues, the proposal would need supermajority votes in both the Senate and House to override a White House veto.