Republican senator who could be deciding vote in national emergency disapproval calls Trump's actions 'unnecessary and unwise'

Lamar Alexander.
(Image credit: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

A Republican senator who could be the deciding vote in a disapproval of President Trump's national emergency declaration says the president's actions present a "constitutional crisis."

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on Thursday said that while he supports "what the president wanted to do on border security," he does "not support the way he has been advised to do it," per BuzzFeed News. "It is unnecessary and unwise to turn a border crisis into a constitutional crisis," he said. Alexander also set forth an argument that Trump can fund the wall with "the authority he already has" without a national emergency.

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It sounds like Alexander could be that Republican, although he didn't actually say on Thursday whether he'll vote for the resolution. In fact, The Washington Post's Erica Werner reports he refused to answer a question about how he'd vote, saying he didn't want to get into hypotheticals. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says a vote on the resolution will take place before March 18, per NPR.

Of course, if the Senate does pass this resolution of disapproval, Trump will likely just veto it. A supermajority would be required to override Trump's veto, which the Senate almost certainly does not have. This would be the first veto of the Trump administration.

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Brendan Morrow

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.