The U.S. House of Representatives was poised on Tuesday to vote
for terminating President Donald Trump’s proclaimed national
emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, a first step toward what could
be a stinging rejection of his proposed border wall.
If the Democratic-controlled House approves a resolution ending
the president’s emergency, as expected, the measure would go to the
Republican-controlled Senate where its chances of passage were
slimmer, but seemed to be improving.
Trump has vowed to issue a veto, which would be the first of his
presidency, against any resolution approved by both chambers
targeting the emergency that he single-handedly declared on Feb. 15
as a way to fund his wall by circumventing Congress.
Overriding such a veto in Congress would require two-thirds
majorities in both chambers, making it highly unlikely, said
lawmakers.
“When you see the vote today, there will be nowhere near the
votes to override a veto,” U.S. Representative Steve Scalise, the
No. 2 House Republican, told reporters on Capitol Hill on
Tuesday.
The battle in Congress is the latest chapter in a long-running
war between Trump and Democrats over border security, immigration
policy and the “great, great wall” that Trump has pledged to build
since becoming a presidential candidate.
He originally promised that Mexico would pay for it, but after
Mexico refused, he asked U.S. taxpayers to foot the bill for the
project, which Democrats call unneeded and ineffective.
In his first two years in office, Trump’s Republicans controlled
both chambers of Congress, which under the U.S. Constitution holds
the national purse strings, but lawmakers failed to provide the
funding Trump wanted for his border barrier.
When Congress, with the House now controlled by Democrats,
refused in recent weeks to provide the money he wants, Trump
declared an emergency and vowed to divert funds toward the wall
from accounts already committed by Congress for other purposes.
That set up a test of the constitutional separation of powers
between Congress and the presidency that will likely lead to a
court challenge after lawmakers deal with the resolution.
A coalition of 16 U.S. states led by California has already sued
Trump and top members of his administration in an attempt to block
his emergency declaration.
Writing on Twitter on Monday, Trump, who says the wall is needed
to stop illegal immigration and drugs, warned Republicans not to
“fall into the Democrats ‘trap’ of Open Borders and Crime!”
Republican Representative Justin Amash is co-sponsoring the
resolution in the House, along with more than 230 House Democrats,
and Amash is urging his colleagues to support it.
“The same congressional Republicans who joined me in blasting
Pres. Obama’s executive overreach now cry out for a king to usurp
legislative powers,” Amash wrote on Twitter.
“If your faithfulness to the Constitution depends on which party
controls the White House, then you are not faithful to it,” he
wrote over the weekend.
The White House was working to limit Republican support for the
measure, especially in the Senate. Vice President Mike Pence was
scheduled to attend a Senate Republican luncheon on Tuesday, where
the resolution was expected to be a key topic.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis, in an opinion article published
in the Washington Post, said he backed Trump on border security,
but would vote for the resolution because he “cannot justify
providing the executive with more ways to bypass Congress.”
At least two other Republican senators, Susan Collins and Lisa
Murkowski, have said they will likely support the measure, too. For
it to pass the Senate, at least one more Republican vote would be
needed, assuming all Democrats and two independents back it.
Trump declared the emergency after Congress declined his request
for $5.7 billion to help build the wall.
Congress this month appropriated $1.37 billion for building
border barriers following a battle with Trump, which included a
35-day partial government shutdown – the longest in U.S. history –
when agency funding lapsed on Dec. 22.
Read more us-house-set-to-reject-trumps-border-wall-emergency-declaration/
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences
Commission has arraigned Dr. Jinga Mayo, the Executive Secretary,
Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board before Justice Nathan Musa of High
Court 1 Yola on a three-count charge for embezzlement.
Dr. Mayo was charged for knowingly furnishing false return of
the sum of N69.2 million received by him to pay committee members
of the Adamawa State Christian Pilgrims Board for 2016 pilgrims
operation in Israel. He allegedly did not pay them but returned
seemingly duly signed payment vouchers and acknowledgement receipts
of the payment by each member of the said committee, contrary to
and punishable under Section 16 of the Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Act 2000.
The accused was also charged for conferring corrupt advantage
upon himself, contrary to and punishable under Section 19 of the
Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000, and also for
making false statement to an officer of ICPC contrary to Section 25
(1) (a) and punishable under Section 25 (1) (b) of the Corrupt
Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
When the three charges were read, Mayo pleaded not guilty to any
of them. It was on this ground that the prosecuting lawyer, Anas
Mohammed Kolo, prayed the court to fix a date for trial.
The defence counsel, J.E Owe, informed the court that he had
filed an application for bail before the court.
Justice Nathan Musa, after listening to both counsel gave the
accused person bail in the sum of N30 million, with one surety, who
must be resident within the court’s jurisdiction.
The matter was then adjourned to 5th and
6th March 2019 for the commencement of trial.
Signed: Mrs. Rasheedat A. Okoduwa, mni
Spokesperson for the Commission