Senate to rebuke Trump on wall

The GOP-controlled Senate is poised to pass a Democratic resolution Thursday blocking President TrumpDonald John TrumpMcMaster accuses some in White House of being a 'danger to the Constitution' Trump predicts Dem investigation will drive him to 2020 win Trump hits O'Rourke: 'Boy has he fallen like a rock' MORE’s declaration of a national emergency to build a wall on the Mexican border. 

Talks within the GOP conference to avoid an embarrassing rebuke for Trump collapsed Wednesday, and Sen. Mike LeeMichael (Mike) Shumway LeeExport-Import Bank back to full strength after Senate confirmations Trump, Senate GOP discuss effort to overhaul legal immigration Overnight Defense: Pentagon plans to make sexual harassment a crime | Military sexual assaults up 38 percent | Senate fails to override Trump's Yemen veto MORE (Utah) joined four fellow Republican senators who have already said they will back the measure. 

Many more are expected to vote against Trump on Thursday. Members of both parties believe he went too far in declaring an emergency to secure funding for a wall that he could not win through the appropriations process — or an extended government shutdown that was a black eye for the Republican Party. 

The House has already approved the resolution, meaning Trump will be forced to use his veto power for the first time. 

GOP Sens. Susan CollinsSusan Margaret CollinsOvernight Health Care: Trump wants HHS to help Florida with drug imports | Graham calls inaction on drug prices 'unacceptable' | Abortion battles heat up with Kavanaugh on Supreme Court Bipartisan pair of senators urges Barr to defend ObamaCare in court Susan Rice slams Trump's foreign policy: He 'encourages' Russia to interfere in our elections MORE (Maine), Lisa MurkowskiLisa Ann MurkowskiMoore's bid for Federal Reserve looks increasingly shaky Patricia Arquette pushes for Equal Rights Amendment at hearing Senate GOP women pose obstacle for Moore as Fed pick MORE (Alaska), Thom TillisThomas (Thom) Roland TillisThe Hill's Morning Report - Can Barr and House Dems avert contempt clash? North Carolina businessman will challenge Tillis in GOP primary John Oliver rips Dem lawmaker's 'pathetic' KFC chicken stunt at Barr hearing MORE (N.C.) and Rand PaulRandal (Rand) Howard PaulIran, Venezuela puts spotlight on Trump adviser John Bolton Republicans rip GOP Intel decision to subpoena Trump Jr. Trump: I am 'looking hard' at bipartisan infrastructure plan of -2 trillion MORE (Ky.) have said they will back the measure. Sens. Marco RubioMarco Antonio RubioAs partisans bicker in the US, Venezuelans continue to suffer Export-Import Bank back to full strength after Senate confirmations Treasury lifts sanctions on Venezuelan general who turned against Maduro MORE (Fla.), Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyOvernight Health Care: HHS issues rule requiring drug prices in TV ads | Grassley, Wyden working on plan to cap drug costs in Medicare | Warren to donate money from family behind opioid giant Dem senator calls on McConnell to endorse bipartisan bill to raise smoking age to 21 Young Turks' Uygur: Nancy Pelosi is not a progressive MORE (Utah), Lamar AlexanderAndrew (Lamar) Lamar AlexanderNuclear should complement wind and solar — not compete Colleges need to have skin in the game to tackle student loan debt Overnight Health Care: House Dems hold first hearing on 'Medicare for All' | Trump urges Dem senator to revive ObamaCare talks | Booming cannabis market puts pressure on FDA MORE (Tenn.), Johnny IsaksonJohn (Johnny) Hardy IsaksonTammy Duckworth visits Iraq for first time since being shot down in 2004 Congress punts on disaster aid amid standoff with Trump, Dems Overnight Defense: Transgender troops rally as ban nears | Trump may call more troops to border | National Guard expects 3M training shortfall from border deployment | Pentagon to find housing for 5,000 migrant children MORE (Ga.), Ron JohnsonRonald (Ron) Harold JohnsonThe Hill's Morning Report - Lawmakers split over Mueller findings: 'case closed' vs. 'cover-up' GOP senators push for probe of 'apparent leaks' in Russia investigation Trump's pursuit of infrastructure deal hits GOP roadblock MORE (Wis.), Ben SasseBenjamin (Ben) Eric SasseSen King, Rep Gallagher to chair bipartisan commission to defend US in cyberspace Export-Import Bank back to full strength after Senate confirmations Live coverage: Barr faces grilling on Mueller's criticism MORE (Neb.) and Jerry MoranGerald (Jerry) MoranFacebook COO Sheryl Sandberg meets with senators on privacy FBI director says he wouldn't use 'spying' to describe investigations Live coverage: Barr faces Senate panel as he prepares release of Mueller report MORE (Kan.) are among the Republicans who could join them. 

Republicans control 53 seats in the chamber, and Democrats are set to back the resolution unanimously. A GOP aide said the high-water mark for votes against Trump is likely 12 Republicans and 59 senators overall. 

A senior Senate GOP aide confirmed the vote will happen Thursday, although a precise time was not locked in by Wednesday afternoon. 

Lawmakers opposed to Trump’s use of the emergency declaration seem unable to meet the two-thirds majority vote in either chamber to overturn his veto, but a big vote in the Senate would at least put opponents in striking range. 

Tillis and Lee were in talks with Vice President Pence on Tuesday to try to find a compromise that would allow them to vote against the resolution of disapproval, but those talks collapsed on Wednesday. 

“We tried to cut a deal, the president didn’t appear interested,” Lee told The Hill. “I’ll be voting ‘yes.’ ”

The president called Lee during a lunch meeting of the Senate GOP conference to announce that he would not endorse Lee’s bill to require Congress to approve future emergencies. 

Republican senators said Trump’s opposition to reining in his emergency powers effectively blew up any chance of coming up with a strategy to defeat the disapproval resolution. 

“ ‘Dandy Don’ Meredith used to sing a song at the end of the game when the result was obvious. It was called turn out the lights, the party’s over. Well, that’s appropriate right now,” Sen. John KennedyJohn Neely KennedyMORE (R-La.) told reporters after Trump’s position became known. 

“It’s time to vote, everybody knows how they’re going to vote. I don’t think the president’s going to win this one,” he added.

Trump, who is using the emergency declaration to access billions of dollars to build the wall, including $3.6 billion in military construction funds, warned Republicans on Wednesday that defectors are making a political mistake. 

“This is a vote on border security and it’s a vote on drugs and trafficking and all of that. And I think most Republican senators fully understand that,” Trump told reporters. 

Trump says senators can vote their conscience but should proceed carefully.

“I said use your own discretion. But I think it’s a bad vote if they go against — I think anybody going against border security, drug trafficking, human trafficking, that’s a bad vote,” he said.

Republican senators say there are still some negotiations happening over what time the vote should happen and whether the resolution should be subject to amendments. 

“There’s been discussion about potential amendments, and that was part of what was discussed, but there’s no decision made,” said Sen. John CornynJohn CornynOvernight Health Care: Trump wants HHS to help Florida with drug imports | Graham calls inaction on drug prices 'unacceptable' | Abortion battles heat up with Kavanaugh on Supreme Court Graham: Doing nothing on drug prices 'unacceptable' White House officials: Trump was joking about adding 2 years to his term MORE (R-Texas). 

Thursday’s vote will be the second time in two days the GOP-controlled Senate has broken with Trump.

The chamber voted Wednesday to withdraw U.S. support for a Saudi-led coalition fighting against Houthi rebels in Yemen’s civil war. It passed a similar resolution in December. That legislation must still pass the House.

Rubio said Wednesday that Trump’s declaration is troubling because it would take away money Congress appropriated for military construction projects.

“It’s money that Congress specifically appropriated for purposes of construction on military facilities. You could make an argument that it’s legal under the statute, but it stretches it and that’s what people are uncomfortable with,” he said. 

Rubio said there’s discussion about an alternative resolution sponsored by Alexander and Sen. Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward CruzTrump hits O'Rourke: 'Boy has he fallen like a rock' Export-Import Bank back to full strength after Senate confirmations 'Seinfeld' star Jason Alexander jabs Ted Cruz with 'George Costanza'-inspired insult MORE (R-Texas) that would limit Trump’s ability to redirect funding to two pockets of money.

Another GOP lawmaker, however, said that proposal has been on the table for days and failed to generate much support in the conference. 

“It’s gotten to the point of being absurd,” the senator said of the increasingly frantic efforts to find a way to avoid voting for the disapproval resolution. 

Alexander, a Senate institutionalist who is retiring in 2020, has led the criticism of Trump’s action. 

He called the emergency declaration “unnecessary, unwise and inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution.”

Alexander and other Republicans say that a future Democratic president could use Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency to tear down the border wall, to close coal plants or to require all Americans to receive health coverage under Medicare instead of from private employers. 

Jordain Carney contributed.