Pelosi Calls For 'Override' After Trump Vetos Congressional Vote To End Emergency
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) - One day after President Trump issued his first veto, Democrats vowed to override it.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in San Francisco Saturday talking with members of the women's organization, The Wing.
Speaker Pelosi told KPIX 5 she's going call for an override vote on March 26, even if they don't have the supermajority needed to overturn the veto. She said it's a matter of putting everyone on record.
"We'll see how far the President wants to go with this," said Speaker Pelosi.
It's the latest political salvo in President Trump's battle with Congress over funding for the border wall. He went to Congress first to ask for the money, and when Congress wouldn't give it to him, he declared a National Emergency to get the money anyway. Congress then passed a resolution to terminate the emergency.
Twelve Republican senators crossed the aisle and voted with the Democrats to end the emergency, saying the president exceeded his authority.
"It should have been a lesson to him to see that twelve Republicans in the Senate voted against his usurping of power from the Congress of the United States,�� said Pelosi.
President Trump says he's simply exercising his constitutional power.
"Congress has the freedom to pass this resolution, and I have the duty to veto it," said the president.
Pelosi said she will call for a vote in the House on March 26 to overturn the president's veto, even though it's unlikely to pass. There does not appear to be enough support to get the necessary two-thirds majority vote in either the House or the Senate.
"We are establishing the Congressional record on this subject and we will have that vote in the Congress," said Pelosi Saturday.
Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who represents San Mateo County, voted to block the president's declaration. She held a Town Hall meeting in Millbrae on Saturday.
"Our president is a national security risk, and I believe it," Speier told the crowd.
This is the first time Congress has challenged a National Emergency Declaration since the Act was established in 1976.