After failed Senate votes, Trump is reportedly reconsidering invoking emergency powers


Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have started negotiating an end to the 35-day-old government shutdown, after two rival bills failed in the Senate on Thursday, the Democratic version getting more votes. Now that the Senate has shot down President Trump's compromise offer, "White House officials aren't sure of their next move," Politico reports. "But they do know one thing: They're losing, and they want to cut a deal."
Trump is reportedly eager to strike a deal, but he's been known to change his mind. "I have other alternatives if I have to and I'll use those alternatives if I have to," he told reporters on Thursday. The White House is preparing a national emergency proclamation for Trump to sign, with the goal of allowing him to build his border wall with $7 billion in funds the White House believes it can claim from Pentagon, Homeland Security, and Treasury funds, CNN reports.
According to the draft proclamation, which was updated as recently as last week, the "national emergency" is a "massive amount of aliens who unlawfully enter the United States each day," CNN says, and the plan acknowledges that the White House would face lawsuits from landowners who don't want their property seized, gives permission to skip environmental reviews, and give waivers to skirt contracting laws. "Trump's next move remained a mystery to many West Wing aides," Politico reports, but aides and GOP lawmakers say "he has all but dropped his past threats to declare a national emergency," even if "the idea is not dead."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
WHCA rejects White House press seating grab
Speed Read The White House Correspondents' Association objected to the Trump administration's bid to control where journalists sit during press briefings
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump sends more migrants to El Salvador jail
Speed Read Another 17 Venezuelan alleged gang members have been deported to a notorious prison
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump 'not joking' about unconstitutional 3rd term
Speed Read The president seems to be serious about seeking a third term in 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
Supreme Court upholds 'ghost gun' restrictions
Speed Read Ghost guns can be regulated like other firearms
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump sets 25% tariffs on auto imports
Speed Read The White House says the move will increase domestic manufacturing. But the steep import taxes could also harm the US auto industry.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump allies urge White House to admit chat blunder
Speed Read Even pro-Trump figures are criticizing The White House's handling of the Signal scandal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Waltz takes blame for texts amid calls for Hegseth ouster
Speed Read Democrats are calling for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to step down
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published