Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) released the following statement after she voted in support of a joint resolution of disapproval on President Trump’s national emergency declaration. The resolution of disapproval passed 59-41 in a bipartisan vote.
“Our system of checks and balances is sacred. Congress passed the National Emergencies Act to allow presidents to declare national emergencies as a result of a threat to our country, or natural disaster, but it does not empower a President to create a crisis and use his power for political gain. Rather than accept the bipartisan border security funding passed by Congress, the President is trying to pull vital funds from military construction projects and anti-narcotic public safety task forces across the country; while doing nothing to address the real humanitarian crisis at the border. The President’s declaration is nothing more than an abuse of his power and my colleagues in the Senate have spoken in a bipartisan vote to rebuke President Trump and condemn this political power grab and waste of billions in taxpayer dollars.”
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