Update 3:55 p.m. EDT March 15: The Associated Press reported Trump signed the veto Friday afternoon.
BREAKING: President Donald Trump issues first veto, overrules Congress to protect his emergency declaration for border wall funding. https://t.co/AJvMi5DpcS
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 15, 2019
Update 2:25 p.m. EDT March 15: The president thanked Republican senators who voted against the resolution in a tweet Friday afternoon.
I’d like to thank all of the Great Republican Senators who bravely voted for Strong Border Security and the WALL. This will help stop Crime, Human Trafficking, and Drugs entering our Country. Watch, when you get back to your State, they will LOVE you more than ever before!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2019
Trump is expected to issue his veto at a 3:30 p.m. ceremony Friday.
Original report: The Republican-led U.S. Senate rebuked President Donald Trump on Thursday, passing a resolution aimed at overturning the national emergency declaration issued last month to fund the building of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Senate voted 59-41 for a resolution to halt Trump’s emergency order. Trump has promised to veto it, a promise he iterated in a single-word tweet after Thursday’s vote.
VETO!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2019
The one-page resolution was passed last month in the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives.
Speaker Pelosi asks Democrats to back one page resolution to overturn Trump national emergency declaration on border wall pic.twitter.com/RbS9fUHHEg
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) February 21, 2019
The president urged lawmakers to vote against the measure in a series of tweets posted Thursday.
“I am prepared to veto, if necessary,” he said.
A big National Emergency vote today by The United States Senate on Border Security & the Wall (which is already under major construction). I am prepared to veto, if necessary. The Southern Border is a National Security and Humanitarian Nightmare, but it can be easily fixed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2019
Prominent legal scholars agree that our actions to address the National Emergency at the Southern Border and to protect the American people are both CONSTITUTIONAL and EXPRESSLY authorized by Congress....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2019
....If, at a later date, Congress wants to update the law, I will support those efforts, but today’s issue is BORDER SECURITY and Crime!!! Don’t vote with Pelosi!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2019
A vote for today’s resolution by Republican Senators is a vote for Nancy Pelosi, Crime, and the Open Border Democrats!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2019
If the measure had passed with a two-thirds majority, it would have been protected against a presidential veto.
Trump declared an emergency on the southern border last month, after a record 35-day partial government shutdown was triggered by the battle over the president's request for $5.7 billion in border wall funding. His emergency declaration would funnel over $6 billion in funds from the Treasury Department and the Pentagon to pay for the wall, including $3.6 billion earmarked for already approved military construction projects, according to Cox Media Group's Jamie Dupree.
Democrats have argued that, despite Trump’s claims, no emergency exists on the border, where crossings are down to a nearly 40-year low.
Dozens of former national security experts, including former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and John Kerry and former defense secretaries Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta, issued a public declaration last month in which they said they were "aware of no emergency that remotely justifies" the emergency declaration, Politico reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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