by Brenna Henderson ’21

In February, a bill that would block President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the southern border was introduced into the House of Representatives by Democratic representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Joaquin Castro.

Ocasio-Cortez and Castro introduced the bill because they thought Trump was abusing his power as president. “President Trump would unconstitutionally usurp congressional authority by declaring an emergency based upon unfounded hype rather than any substantive emergency,” said Castro.

On February 26, the House of Representatives voted on the bill after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made a speech in which she asked the Republican representatives, “Is your oath of office to Donald Trump or is it to the Constitution of the United States?”

The bill passed through the House, 245-182, with 13 Republicans representatives and 232 Democratic representatives for the bill and 182 Republicans representatives against the bill. By March 15, the Senate will vote on the bill, which is projected to pass since four Republican representatives – Senators Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis – have stated that they are for the bill, making those for the bill a majority.

Still, the bill will not have the two-thirds majority needed to overturn a promised veto from Trump. “Yeah,” replied Trump in an interview on Fox, when Sean Hannity said Trump would veto the bill.