By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--February 17, 2019
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“Yes, they’re concerned if a Democratic president gets elected then they can use emergency powers to do a lot of the things they don’t like. As you know, they don’t believe in climate change. They don’t want us to talk about Medicare for all or any of those subjects they think we’ll spend too much government money, even though they’ve created the largest debt we’ve seen in government for many many years.” … “And so it’s time for everybody to stand up. All hands on deck to refuse this president these fake emergency powers that he would like (to) have. And so I’m urging everybody get together —rally in every community across this country all this weekend, send a message to Washington, D.C., ‘No, Mr. President, we’re not going to allow you to do this.”
“I’ve been talking about impeachment for a long time. I’m absolutely stunned and amazed that the American people have taken so much off of this president. This president has lied, I think it’s been documented, 8,000 times in the last two years. This president has committed obstruction of justice right before our very eyes. And if we could ever get Manafort to tell the truth, then we will find they conspired to get Trump elected so sanctions could be lifted off of Russia. (Breitbart) “President Obama created sanctions, placed them on Russia, because of their invasion, basically in Crimea, and they can’t drill into the Arctic, do some of these things they want to do. They don’t have the equipment. Our allies are working with us to honor the sanctions, and that’s what this is all about. The Americans have taken too much off of this president. He is dishonorable. He does not deserve to be president of the United States.”
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The Bulwark will update this list for the next few days as statements are released. House Members and Senators Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine): “disappointed” “Such a declaration would undermine the role of Congress and the appropriations process.“ Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska):“[doesn’t] think this is a matter that should be declared a national emergency.” Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania): “I never thought that was a good idea. I still don’t. My view is that this is better to be resolved through the legislative process.” Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee): “Declaring a national emergency is unnecessary, unwise and inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution.” Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska): “We absolutely have a crisis at the border, but as a Constitutional conservative I don’t want a future Democratic President unilaterally rewriting gun laws or climate policy. If we get used to presidents just declaring an emergency any time they can’t get what they want from Congress, it will be almost impossible to go back to a Constitutional system of checks and balance. Over the past decades, the legislative branch has given away too much power and the executive branch has taken too much power.” Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida): “We have a crisis at our southern border, but no crisis justifies violating the Constitution: Today’s national emergency is border security. But a future president may use this exact same tactic to impose the Green New Deal. I will wait to see what statutory or constitutional power the President relies on to justify such a declaration before making any definitive statement. But I am skeptical it will be something I can support.”
Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin): “It would be a pretty dramatic expansion of how this was used in the past.” Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina): “I don’t believe a national emergency declaration is the solution.” Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas): “My concerns about an emergency declaration were the precedent it would establish… I also thought it would not be a practical solution because there would be a lawsuit filed immediately and the money would presumably be balled up associated with that litigation. I thought there were other, better alternatives.“ Senator Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota): “If you get another President who believes that climate change is the crisis of the day, that means they could then funnel money out of ongoing programs into climate change…“ Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa): “I wish he wouldn’t have done it…I imagine we’ll find out whether he’s got the authority to do it by the courts.” Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky): “not in favor… revenue raising and spending power was given to Congress.“ Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri): “While I’m in favor of what this president wants to do [on the border wall], I think it sets a dangerous precedent and I hope he doesn’t do it.” Senator Mike Lee, (R-Utah): “My initial assessment is that what Pres. Trump announced is legal. Whether or not it should be legal is a different matter. Congress has been ceding far too much power to the exec. branch for decades. We should use this moment as an opportunity to start taking that power back.” Rep. Will Hurd (Texas 23rd): “I’ve made it very clear, I don’t think there’s a need to declare a national emergency… Now, it’s within his powers to do that. However the question could be, where does he find the money to do this?”
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Washington 5th): “I do not support this decision because declaring a national emergency sets a very dangerous precedent that undermines our constitutional separation of powers. By circumventing Congress and Article I of the Constitution, President Trump is opening the door for any future president to act alone without Congressional approval.” Rep. Chris Stewart (Utah 2nd): “I think President Trump is making a mistake by declaring a national emergency in order to increase border funding,” Stewart said in a statement. “Whether the President has the authority or not, it sets a dangerous precedent and places America on a path that we will regret.” Rep. Justin Amash (Michigan 3rd): “A national emergency declaration for a non-emergency is void. A prerequisite for declaring an emergency is that the situation requires immediate action and Congress does not have an opportunity to act. @POTUS @realDonaldTrump is attempting to circumvent our constitutional system.” Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio 16th): “However, my fear is that any action to assign further funds for physical barriers on our border would set a dangerous precedent whereby a future president whom I do not support could declare a different national emergency to enact a different set of policies without the consent or the approval of Congress.” Rep. Mike Gallagher (Wisconsin 8th): “1. It’ll likely get tied up in the courts; 2. They didn’t like it when Obama did everything through Executive fiat; 3. They’ll not like it when a future Democratic president declares a climate emergency to seize airplanes and farting cows. This is bad policy and bad process.” Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Washington 3rd): “If President Obama had ever hinted at using emergency powers in this way, I would have spoken out strongly against it, and consistency demands that I do the same now.”See the Bulwark list of Scholars, Pundits and Journalists here: How many Repub politicians will be part of the Maxine Water’s ‘Impeach Trump’ protests hitting the streets of every community this weekend? We’ll likely never know as the Fake News media, who make them tremble in fear, will do everything in their power to keep them from being outed.
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