WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Senate today voted 54-41 to overturn President Trump’s national emergency declaration on the southern border.  U.S. Senator Jack Reed, the Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee, voted to end the emergency declaration, which the Trump Administration has used as an excuse to divert $3.6 billion in funds appropriated for military construction projects to an ineffective border wall.

Eleven Republicans joined 43 Democrats in support of the measure.

Senator Reed stated:

“President Trump wants to take money from our troops and national defense and divert it to an ineffective border wall that he claimed Mexico would pay for.  Today, the majority of the U.S. Senate stood up for the Constitution and our system of checks and balances and declared that President Trump doesn’t have the right to divert appropriated funds for the military to his pet projects.

“President Trump failed to get the Mexican government to pay for the wall, he failed to convince a then-Republican-controlled Congress to pay for it, and now he is attempting to misuse funds intended for the United States military.  It is disgraceful.  President Trump may believe that not getting his way constitutes a national emergency, but the American people overwhelmingly disagree.”