US House of Representatives fails to override Trump veto on Mexican border wall

US House of Representatives fails to override Trump veto on Mexican border wall
# 26 March 2019 23:36 (UTC +04:00)

The House of Representatives failed Tuesday to override the first veto of President Trump’s term in office, a vote initiated by Democrats seeking to unwind the president’s national emergency declaration, ONA reports quoting The Hill.

The chamber fell short of the 290 votes, or two-thirds majority, needed to override the veto, which Trump issued earlier this month to counter Congress’ rebuke over his intention to reallocate a part of defence funding to build a steel fence along the US-Mexico border and thus make good on his 2016 campaign promise to put an end to the flood of illegal immigrants into the country.

The vast majority of Republicans in the lower chamber threw their weight behind Trump on Tuesday over the veto. However, 14 GOP lawmakers chose to go against party lines and rebuke the president's emergency declaration for a second time since late February, when the lower chamber voted to overturn Trump’s emergency declaration.

“The men and women who put their lives on the line every single day to secure our borders deserve all the tools they need to do the job, including a border wall”, Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) said during the talks at the chamber.

“Through President Trump's proclamation and his veto of House Joint Resolution IV, he's acting decisively to finally address this crisis under the authority provided to him by Congress”.

Trump issued the veto shortly after the disapproval resolution passed the Senate this month, with the president noting it would be “reckless” to allow the resolution to take effect, arguing that there is a crunch at the US-Mexico border that needs to be by all means addressed, as hundreds cross into the US illegally.

“Today I am vetoing this resolution. Congress has the freedom to pass this resolution, and I have the duty to veto it”, Trump said during a ceremony in the Oval Office last week.

The disapproval resolution arrived after on 15 February, US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on the US border with Mexico following Congress's refusal to allocate the $5.7 billion that he requested for border security.

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THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED