GOP congressman ominously warns Trump not to declare a national emergency over the wall
As President Trump continues to float the idea of declaring a national emergency to secure wall funding, one member of his party is publicly warning him to steer clear.
Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) spoke with CNN's Don Lemon after Trump's address Tuesday night and said that "we didn't see anything new" in the speech, but there was one "bright spot" in his eyes. That, he said, was the fact that Trump didn't declare a national emergency in an attempt to fund the wall without Congress, as some had expected him to do.
"Had he done that, it would have been a gross abuse of power," Hurd said, Mediaite reports.
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Hurd will likely be distressed to learn, then, that Trump is still considering the option, with White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying Wednesday it remains "on the table." But Hurd isn't the only member of the party who fears Trump will take this step, as a number of other congressional Republicans expressed opposition to a national emergency declaration Tuesday, The Washington Post writes. CNN's Manu Raju reports that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday declined twice to say whether he thinks it's a good idea.
Watch Hurd's comments on CNN below. Brendan Morrow
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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