The Republican-led Senate has delivered a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump and his signature trade agenda.
Senators voted 51-48 Wednesday to reject the national emergency Trump declared earlier this year to justify his plan to slap 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports. The vote took place hours after Trump delivered remarks from the White House rolling out his latest plans to slap new tariffs on a wide range of products.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul joined all Democrats in backing a resolution from Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine that would end that national emergency. Paul, of Kentucky, co-sponsored the measure.
McConnell offered Paul, a fellow Kentuckian, a fist-bump on the chamber floor. They broke out into applause as the gavel went down and closed the vote.
If it passes the House, it doesn’t matter, Trump can veto it.
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha in 1983 declared Legislative Veto unconstitutional. It should have been then when all the emergency powers were rewritten.
So as it stands. All those emergency powers that were written with the understanding that a simple majority was all that was needed to end an emergency, now need a veto proof majority.