US House Won't Consider Senate Bill to Overhaul National Emergencies - Pelosi

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US House of Representatives will not take up a bill proposed by Senate Republicans to amend the National Emergencies Act because the legislation would provide cover to President Donald Trump on his national emergency declaration over border security, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a news release on Wednesday.

"Republican Senators are proposing new legislation to allow the President to violate the Constitution just this once in order to give themselves cover", Pelosi said in the statement. "The House will not take up this legislation to give President Trump a pass".

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Republican Senators have proposed a bill that would limit the powers of the president to declare national emergencies but would not apply retroactively to Trump's declaration. Under the proposed legislation, a national emergency declaration would automatically expire after 30 days unless both the Senate and House vote to keep it in place.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on Thursday on separate House legislation that would overturn Trump's national emergency declaration. The president is expected to veto the resolution and neither chamber of Congress is expected to be able to override his veto.

On February 27,  the House passed the resolution with a 245-182 vote. Trump declared a national emergency last month to free up $8 billion in federal funding to build a wall on the southern border where the administration claims there is a humanitarian crisis. The president has said the border is needed to prevent criminals and terrorists from pouring into the United States.