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Congress just voted to end the national emergency President Trump declared at the border for the second time — but that doesn’t necessarily mean the Trump administration has to scrap its plan to use military funds to pay for the border wall.
The House voted to end the emergency declaration Friday, just two days after the Senate did the same. Congress had also tried seven months earlier, but Trump issued his first veto to block the move, and he could do it again.
“Today, I am vetoing this resolution,” Trump said after Congress’ first attempt. “Congress has the freedom to pass this resolution, and I have the duty to veto it.”
This week, only 11 Republicans, in each chamber, went against the party line and voted in favor of ending the emergency declaration. That means neither the House nor the Senate managed to get the two-thirds majority necessary to prevent a veto, which raises the possibility that Trump will simply override the votes like he did earlier this year.
Ending the emergency declaration would mean that the Trump administration could no longer redirect military funds to pay for the border wall, which is known as reprogramming. The administration has diverted roughly $6.1 billion from military construction funds to pay for the border wall so far, according to CBS.
Trump issued the emergency declaration in February, which Congress voted to overturn the first time a month later.
Cover image: President Donald Trump tours a section of the southern border wall, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Otay Mesa, Calif. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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