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.
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media
-
Trump pardons Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery
speed read Former sheriff Scott Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal bribery and fraud charges