Wisconsin’s U.S. Senators split their votes Thursday, as the U.S. Senate voted 59-41 to approve a resolution to overturn President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border. A total of 12 Republicans joined all Democrats to pass the resolution, which passed the House last month.
Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson released a statement following his “no” vote.
“Unfortunately, securing America’s border has turned into a political brawl, with Democrats – who supported border barriers in the past – now refusing to supply the funding for necessary barriers because they don’t like this president. We have a growing humanitarian crisis at our border that has seen more families and unaccompanied children enter our country in the last five months than at any other time on record. That certainly qualifies as an emergency. Today’s vote will not fix any problem, but it does demonstrate whether a senator supports or opposes border security. I will always choose to support border and homeland security. We will deal with the issue of reclaiming congressional authority under the National Emergencies Act in my committee in the very near future.”
Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin noted that the House passed the resolution with bipartisan support, 245 to 182, and Republican U.S. Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner and Mike Gallagher joined Wisconsin Democrats Ron Kind, Gwen Moore, Mark Pocan in voting yes.
I voted today with Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to stand up for our Constitution and our American system of checks and balances. President Trump’s unlawful power grab is an attack on our Constitution’s separation of powers. https://t.co/tNyOaHSzlL
— Sen. Tammy Baldwin (@SenatorBaldwin) March 14, 2019
The Senate vote sends the resolution to the president, and Congress does not have the votes to override Trump’s promised veto.