Donald Trump Issues First Veto To Block Border Wall National Emergency Declaration

The first veto of Donald Trump‘s presidency was issued at a press conference on Friday, blocking a congressional resolution attempting to end Trump’s declaration of a national emergency.

Trump called the measure  a “reckless resolution,” which was supported by 12 Republicans in the Senate on Thursday. The national emergency declared by Trump in February was a response to Congress’s denying his requests for funding for his border wall, a main 2016 election promise.

On Thursday night, the president was quick to respond on Twitter exclaiming “Veto!”

“It is no surprise that the president holds the rule of law & our Constitution in minimal regard. There is no emergency; Congress has refused to fund his wall multiple times; Mexico won’t pay for it; a bipartisan majority in both chambers just voted to terminate his fake emergency,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer in a statement Friday, responding to the veto and assuring the public that Congress will continue its commitment to defending the country from an “overreaching” president.

The public veto event on Friday included many breaks for applause and praise of Trump’s decision by members of the president’s cabinet.

“That is a big step, we are building a lot of wall right now,” the president said after signing his first veto.

The House of Representatives will vote at the end of the month to overturn the veto but isn’t expected to have the two-thirds supermajority support needed. If the veto stands, there may still be months or years of legal barriers until the president has access to the necessary funding to build the border wall on the U.S. southern border.