repubs mollifying the president over serving their own constituents

“This is how far Republicans will go in submissiveness to President Trump,” Milbank wrote. “They will vote to surrender military spending projects in their own home states and districts to avoid displeasing him.”

The Senate will vote this week whether to uphold Trump’s declaration, made last month after the president failed to secure the funds he was demanding for his proposed border wall, despite a 35-day federal shutdown over the dispute. The national emergency will allow Trump to access other federal funds, including those allocated to the Pentagon.

Though Senators are expected to block the declaration—a decision Trump plans to veto immediately—most Senate Republicans will vote to support the president’s controversial maneuver.

“In upholding Trump’s emergency declaration, they are giving him blanket authority to take $3.6 billion from any of nearly 400 already approved military construction projects of his choosing in 43 states—and to spend it on a border wall,” Milbank wrote. All but 13 House Republicans have already acquiesced to Trump’s demands, though the Democrat-Majority House as a whole voted to overturn the order.

The Post has reported that Trump has his eye on as much as $6 billion in Pentagon funds, which alone is more than his $5.7 billion that led to the government shutdown. Details have been sparse, but the military has already suggested around $1 billion will come from money set aside for recruiting and pensions.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-republican-party-national-emergency-border-wall-senate-gop-1361290