Senate votes to block Trump's national emergency

By Meg Wagner, Veronica Rocha and Brian Ries, CNN

Updated 7:00 p.m. ET, March 14, 2019
24 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
7:00 p.m. ET, March 14, 2019

Our live coverage of the Senate's vote has ended. Scroll through the posts below to see how it unfolded or follow CNN Politics.

5:51 p.m. ET, March 14, 2019

Plans underway for Trump to veto the resolution tomorrow, official says

From CNN's Jim Acosta 

Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images
Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images

Aides are hashing out a plan for President Trump to use his veto pen in front of cameras as soon as Friday, an administration official said.

The official said plans are underway for Trump to publicly veto the resolution rejecting his national emergency declaration.

According to the official, it would be surprising if Trump did not veto this measure at some kind of an event.  

5:21 p.m. ET, March 14, 2019

Why Sen. Thom Tillis voted against the resolution

From CNN's Jim Acosta and Liz Landers 

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis flipped his vote today on the emergency declaration disapproval resolution and voted against the measure because he was coming under tremendous pressure to remain loyal to President Trump, according to a North Carolina GOP official. 

The official said Tillis, who represents North Carolina, is "getting hit hard in the state..." over his initial embrace of the Democratic resolution rebuking Trump.

Why that matters: Tillis is almost certainly facing a primary challenge, the official said, pointing to Raleigh businessman Garland Tucker. 

Asked if he was worried about a primary challenge if he had voted for the disapproval resolution, Tillis said, “No, I’ve naturally assumed I was going to have a primary challenge. It usually happens in every election cycle in North Carolina."

Tillis said that he had a “repeated number of discussions” with Vice President Mike Pence about the vote.

4:35 p.m. ET, March 14, 2019

The House will likely hold veto override vote on March 26, aide says

From CNN's Sunlen Serfaty 

The House will likely hold a vote to override President Trump’s upcoming veto on March 26, a House Democrat leadership aide told CNN.

Earlier today, the Senate voted to overturn the President's national emergency border declaration. Twelve Republicans voted in support of the resolution to block Trump's emergency order.

Trump later tweeted that he was looking "forward to vetoing" the measure.

3:53 p.m. ET, March 14, 2019

Trump tweets "VETO" after Senate vote

President Trump tweeted "VETO" moments after the Senate voted to block his emergency declaration.

Twelve Republicans joined Democrats to reject the President's executive action.

Trump later tweeted:

The bottom line: Lawmakers don't have enough votes to override a certain veto from the President, but passage of the resolution in the Senate after it passed the House last month is nevertheless an embarrassing blow to Trump delivered by his own party over the President's top campaign pledge of a wall at the US-Mexico border.

3:23 p.m. ET, March 14, 2019

Democratic congressman calls for House vote to override the anticipated presidential veto

From CNN's Sunlen Serfaty 

 Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
 Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, the author of the resolution to terminate the President’s national emergency declaration, is urging the House to hold a vote to override the anticipated presidential veto. 

He said he was encouraged by the 12 Republican votes against the President on the Senate side. Castro said he will now speak to House leadership about putting this on the floor again. 

“We will try to rally the votes to override,” Castro said. “We are gonna give it a shot.”

One thing to note: Two-thirds of a majority in both the House and Senate would be needed to override a presidential veto. 

3:03 p.m. ET, March 14, 2019

Senate votes to block Trump's emergency declaration

The Senate voted to block President Trump's emergency declaration, with 12 Republicans joining Democrats.

The final vote was 59 to 41.

What this means: The vote is a defeat for the White House. Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence campaigned against the measure and now Trump will be forced to veto the resolution -- the first veto of his presidency. 

3:23 p.m. ET, March 14, 2019

Enough senators have voted for the resolution to block Trump's national emergency

From CNN's Ted Barrett and Phil Mattingly 

In a Senate vote that is still underway, enough bipartisan senators have voted to nullify President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency for the disapproval resolution to pass, according to an unofficial CNN count of the vote. It needed at least 51.

At this point in the vote, 12 Republicans voted for the measure.

Note: The outcome will not final until the vote is officially gaveled complete.  

These are the 12 GOP votes to terminate the national emergency declaration:

  • Sen. Roger Wicker 
  • Sen. Marco Rubio
  • Sen Rob Portman
  • Sen. Susan Collins
  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski 
  • Sen. Pat Toomey
  • Sen. Roy Blunt
  • Sen. Lamar Alexander
  • Sen. Mitt Romney
  • Sen. Rand Paul
  • Sen. Jerry Moran
  • Sen. Mike Lee

2:31 p.m. ET, March 14, 2019

The Senate is now voting on the resolution

The Senate vote is starting now on a resolution to block President Trump's emergency declaration on the southern border, which funds his wall.