Political Quotes

“I agree with my distinguished colleagues from Washington State and New Mexico for what they have said. Sometimes casting a vote on the Senate floor is just a matter of course. It is something we do routinely, often without considering the impact of that vote on the Senate as an institution, let alone our constitutional Republic as we know it, but this week's vote on President Trump's national emergency declaration is different. It is a pivotal moment in this body's history. It is a stress test of the very notion of separation of powers. The Constitution speaks of Congress as being a coequal branch of government. Well, this is going to be viewed as a moment when Congress either asserted itself as a coequal branch of government or surrendered as a subordinate to the will of a President who now claims his powers are absolute. This is a President who has said out loud that the Constitution gives him the right to do ``whatever I want as President.'' It makes one wonder if the President has ever actually read the Constitution of the United States. This President is attempting to ignore the explicit will of Congress by simply declaring a national emergency to fund his ``big, beautiful'' wall. That is after, time and time and time again, he gave us his word that Mexico would pay for the wall. For 3 years, he failed to convince Congress that the wall was a good idea. Even when his own party controlled both the House of Representatives and the U.S.…”