Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said President Donald Trump’s plan to use military funds to build a wall along the nation’s southern border could have adverse effects on New Hampshire National Guard.
New Hampshire’s senior senator, along with another Democrat and two Republican senators, are introducing a resolution to block the president’s emergency declaration to build a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The funding President Trump is trying to redirect could come from important projects at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the New Hampshire National Guard – that’s unacceptable,” Shaheen said in a statement. “I hope we can move quickly on this resolution in the Senate with a strong bipartisan vote.”
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as well as Democratic Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico, are co-sponsors on the resolution.
The resolution matches the text in the House version, which passed 245-182 on Tuesday.
There may be enough Republican support in the Senate to pass a resolution blocking Trump’s order, though the next steps are unclear. Trump has pledged to veto the House resolution, and it’s unlikely that Congress can override him.
The senators say the proposal would terminate the national emergency and uphold the separation of powers in the Constitution.
Trump used a 1976 law to declare a national emergency and ordered the shift of $3.6 billion from military construction projects to wall building. Citing other powers, he intends to shift an additional $3.1 billion from Defense Department anti-drug efforts and a fund that collects seized assets.
Earlier this month, all four members of New Hampshire’s Congressional delegation signed a letter sent to Trump arguing that his plan could undercut two military projects in and around the Granite State.
The letter – signed by Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas, as well as Sen. Maggie Hassan – cites a plan released by the Navy in 2018 calling for a $21 billion investment to improve dry docks in public naval shipyards in New England and across the country. The delegation argued that the improvements are necessary as the Navy is increasing its fleet size.
The letter also cited the training facility at the New Hampshire National Guard’s readiness center in Pembroke. The readiness center was a project approved by Congress and opened in 2016.
“We urge you to consider the impact of this decision on PNSY, NHNG and national security as it will have a long-lasting adverse effect on our defense capabilities,” the delegation wrote.
The letter was sent Feb. 19, four days after the president declared a national emergency and told reporters at the White House that the seized money would have otherwise been used for projects that “didn’t sound too important to me.”
Shaheen, a member of the Senate committees on armed services and foreign relations, said there are more pressing national security priorities than building a border wall, which was one of Trump’s campaign promises before being elected.
“There are many very real and present military threats from our adversaries, like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, which is why the President’s declaration to pull critical funding from defense construction projects to pay for his border wall is so dangerous,” she said.
Trump has argued that the barriers are needed to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico, though government figures show that 90 percent of drugs intercepted from Mexico are caught at ports of entry, not remote areas where barriers would be built, according to the Associated Press.
The White House says the money would be used to build steel barriers up to 30 feet tall and other barriers for “law enforcement efforts.”
The showdown has forced Republicans to cast uncomfortable votes, pitting their support for a president popular with GOP voters against their own fears that his use of emergency powers would invite future Democratic presidents to do likewise.
The White House, in a letter to lawmakers threatening to veto the House resolution, said blocking the declaration would “undermine the administration’s ability to respond effectively to the ongoing crisis” at the border.
Shaheen, meanwhile, says the power of the purse must stay with Congress.
“It’s time for the Senate to follow the House in reaffirming that constitutional authority,” she said.
(Materials from the Associated Press were used in this report. Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3321, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)