North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis met with White House officials to discuss how to balance the president’s “individual power” and Congress’ role in a national emergency declaration. | AP Photo/Alex Brandon Congress GOP searches for way out of border fight with Trump Senate Republicans are eager to avoid conflict with the president — who just made things harder for them with his new demands for wall funding.

Senate Republicans are trying to head off a collision with President Donald Trump over the border wall this week, even as his new budget demands ensure the painful political battle will extend into the fall.

Some GOP senators are discussing a potential compromise with the White House in order to limit Republican defections on a vote this week to overturn Trump’s emergency declaration, according to GOP senators and aides. The matter was unresolved as of Monday evening, senators said, but the discussions underscore the reluctance of the GOP to fight with the president on the Senate floor.


Republican senators queasy about the legality and precedent of Trump’s unilateral move to fund his wall are exploring whether the president will commit to signing a bill amending the National Emergency Act and curtailing presidential power. In exchange, they would consider standing with the president and potentially vote against the House-passed disapproval measure.

“If there’s a chance to make progress on the National Emergency Act, which I think has been revealed to be problematic, then that would certainly be something I would consider,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Two GOP senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, discussed the potential changes to the law with the White House over the weekend. Tillis opposes Trump’s national emergency declaration and Lee is undecided on how he will vote. Roughly a dozen GOP senators are weighing whether to vote against the White House.

"There's a lot of different discussions going on and really I thought the White House has been great in speaking with a number of members, me just one of them,” Tillis said. He said they were discussing how to balance the president’s “individual power” and Congress’ role.

Lee has pitched a proposal requiring Congress to approve any emergency declaration after 30 days, though the White House wants that period to be significantly extended.

A person close to the White House said it’s unlikely the president would agree to a compromise that curtails executive power.

In addition to Tillis, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have signaled they would join all 47 Democrats and vote to rebuke Trump. A simple majority is enough to send the legislation to the president’s desk, something most Republicans would like to avoid after the president began upping his engagement in recent days.

On Monday, Trump tweeted that “Republican Senators have a very easy vote this week,” adding “Get tough R’s!”

Whether Senate Republicans and the president can come to some sort of an agreement will give a good indication of their ability to unite during what will be a difficult fall.

Trump called for $8.6 billion for the wall next year in his budget Monday, in addition to roughly $8 billion he has sought this year. The move sets up another brutal legislative conflict and complicates funding the government and lifting the debt ceiling before October.

It’s unclear whether the last-minute negotiations will work. Changing the law would require 60 votes in the Senate and buy-in from House Democratic leaders, in addition to Trump’s signature. And it may not be able to prevent the disapproval measure from reaching the president’s desk given deep-seated disagreement some GOP senators have with Trump’s use of the emergency powers.

One senator familiar with the talks said, “We may be getting to a point where the president will give an assurance” to senators on changing the law to avoid future end runs around Congress. But no final decision has been made and winning over Democrats angry with Trump’s emergency declaration will likely be difficult.

“There was some conversation about it … it’s probably going to be a pretty tough sell. No president wants to constrain their power, but I hope we have a good conversation about it,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “Anything like that would be purely prospective, so I think we’re going to deal with the current declaration on its own terms.”

Most budget requests are usually shrugged off by Congress, but the border barrier is something different. It’s Trump’s chief political priority — the one legislative ask he really has — and it’s already led to a 35-day, historic shutdown.

White House officials made their case Monday that Congress could essentially complete the wall by meeting Trump’s budget plans as he heads into his 2020 campaign.

“This $8.6 billion is geared towards what we would need in addition to complete that wall,” said acting Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought.

With Democrats now controlling the House, the onus for fighting for the president’s border wall is falling almost solely on the Senate GOP.

Republicans quickly made clear that the White House’s goal is aspirational.

“We aren’t going to shut down the government. And the president through his executive order has more money than he can build a wall in the next 18 months anyway. So I don’t think it’s going to be an issue,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). “If you want to ask me if I’d support it, of course.”

But can more than $8 billion of wall money get through the Senate? Grassley said no, as did other GOP colleagues.

“That’s going to be a real challenge, no question about it,” answered Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).

“It’s hard to imagine,” conceded Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).

Yet what’s become clear is that the border battle isn’t going anywhere over the next 20 months before the 2020 presidential election.

As long as the president keeps his national emergency in place, Democrats can force disapproval votes every six months, under the law. And as long as he remains president, it seems, Trump will keep prodding Congress for more money to build his border wall.

“It’s the beginning of the discussion. You never know what will happen around here,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). “I’m not worried. I’d say it’s round one of a long battle that will probably go to the end of the year.”

Eliana Johnson contributed to this report.

