March 15, 201903/15/2019

Tillis votes to support president's emergency declaration after strongly opposing

North Carolina's junior U.S. Senator Thom Tillis is receiving strong blowback from his sudden switch on allowing Trump to gain border wall funding through emergency declaration. 

Tillis wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post making clear why he strongly opposed allowing the president to move forward with spending $3.6 billion more than Congress allocated him for border security. On the Senate floor, he also made strong statements on the subject, seen in the video below. 

Even without Tillis voting for the bill to block Trump's emergency declaration, 12 other Republicans voted for it, allowing it to pass the Senate 59-41. 

The bill already having passed the House, President Trump responded on Twitter, "VETO!" suggesting he will continue fighting to gain more funding than Congress is willing to give. 

Tillis received strong condemnation from not only liberals but also conservatives who saw his flip as a sign of weakness or cowardice in the face of pressure from the White House. 

Tillis' office released the following statement explaining the change in position:

“I agree with President Trump that there is a crisis at our southern border and have always supported his desire to build new infrastructure and barriers. 

“The concerns I’ve raised were never about what President Trump is trying to accomplish but rather with setting a precedent that a future Democratic president would exploit to bypass Congress to implement policies well outside the mainstream. 

“Over the past several weeks, I’ve met with the Vice President and senior White House staff to build consensus on amending the National Emergencies Act to prevent a future left-wing president from misusing their authority. I’m incredibly encouraged by the historic commitment from the President to restore proper balance between the executive and legislative branches.

“While the Trump Administration is working in good-faith with Congress to amend the National Emergencies Act, Democratic leaders have outright rejected attempts to do so, in addition to calling the dire situation at the southern border a ‘manufactured crisis.’ 

“In the coming weeks, I’ll continue to work with the White House and my Republican colleagues on a long-term solution, and I hope some of my Democratic colleagues will join us.”