美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Vows Veto After Congress Blocks His Order To Build Border Wall

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

President Trump¹ tweeted a single word this afternoon - veto, exclamation² point. He was responding to a congressional vote terminating his national emergency declaration to build a wall. In the Senate, a dozen Republicans broke with the White House to side with Democrats³. The democratically-controlled House had already voted against the emergency declaration. The president has been consistent all along about how he would respond. This is what he said earlier today before the Senate vote.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no. I don't know what the vote will be. It doesn't matter. I'll probably have to veto.

SHAPIRO: And this would be the first veto of the Trump presidency⁴. NPR congressional correspondent Susan Davis joins us now. Hi, Sue.

SUSAN DAVIS, BYLINE⁵: Hey, Ari.

SHAPIRO: The outcome of this vote was not in doubt because Democrats had enough support from Republicans to pass it. But how surprising is it that 12 Republicans broke with the White House?

DAVIS: You know, when you think about how reluctant Republicans generally are to break with President Trump, especially on an issue like the wall, it does speak to how deep the concern is in Congress that there's something much bigger at stake here. Those 12 Republicans who sided with Democrats - they all support the wall. The question is about whether President Trump is operating within the bounds of the Constitution, not with the national emergency declaration itself. The law is pretty unambiguous that he has the authority to declare national emergencies, but it's in the question of using that authority to then redirect this money that Congress has already decided⁶ to be spent elsewhere. So what Congress is saying is that they are trying to overturn the president's February 15th order, which aims to redirect about $6 billion to build a wall.

SHAPIRO: Assuming that the president follows through on his promise to veto this, there are not enough votes to overturn his veto, override⁷ it. So where does it go from here?

DAVIS: So 16 states have already filed legal challenges to the president's declaration, so that has to play out. Democrats on Capitol Hill also say they intend to fight it in the courts. The vote by Congress, while it doesn't have the votes to override, could play a factor in these legal challenges 'cause it will send a message to the courts about what the legislative⁸ branch's position is here. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell - before this, he had privately⁹ urged the president not to go down this path, although ultimately, today he voted with the White House. But when he was speaking on the floor today, he made the point that if Congress doesn't like the way the president's using these powers, they should do something about it. This is what he said.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MITCH MCCONNELL: He has simply operated within existing law - the National Emergencies Act of 1976 - to invoke¹⁰ a narrow set of authorities to reprogram a narrow set of funds. If Congress has grown uneasy with this new law, as many have, then we should amend¹¹ it.

DAVIS: The catch here, Ari? A lot of Republicans actually did try to do that. There was a last-minute effort this week among some Senate Republicans to say to the White House, we'll vote down the resolution if the president will say he will support legislation to limit future presidential authority to declare national emergencies. And President Trump told Republicans he could not commit to supporting that.

SHAPIRO: And what's really amazing, Sue, is this is the second vote this week where the Republican-controlled Senate rejected Trump administration positions. There was also a vote on ending U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which the administration supports. Is this a sea change? I mean, are we living in a different era now?

DAVIS: It is certainly a different chapter. You know, for his first two years in office, President Trump had Republicans in control of the House and Senate. They worked very hard to accommodate the president, move his legislative agenda. I think on, you know, a singular basis, lawmakers still overwhelmingly support President Trump. But as the next two years unfold, he's got a loyal opposition¹² in the House. And he does have a not-insignificant number of Republican senators who, at turns, are uneasy about his foreign policy, his trade policy and, as we saw today, his possible executive overreach.

SHAPIRO: NPR's Susan Davis. Thanks a lot.

DAVIS: You're very welcome.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 override   

vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于

参考例句：

• The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
• I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。

8 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

9 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

10 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

11 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。