WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has issued the first veto of his presidency, overruling Congress to protect his emergency declaration for border wall funding.
Flanked by law enforcement officials as well as the parents of children killed by people in the country illegally, Trump says “our immigration system is stretched beyond the breaking point” and calls the congressional action “dangerous” and “reckless.”
A dozen Republicans joined with Senate Democrats on Thursday to back the joint resolution disapproving of Trump’s emergency declaration. The House had passed the same resolution last month largely along party lines.
It is unlikely that Congress will have the two-thirds majority required to override Trump’s veto.
Trump wants to use the emergency order to redirect billions in federal dollars earmarked for defense spending toward the southern border wall. It still faces several legal challenges in federal court.
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