248-181 tally in override try of emergency declaration falls short of two-thirds needed

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump's first veto withstood an override attempt by the House of Representatives on Tuesday, leaving intact his national emergency declaration for plans to build a wall on the Mexican border.

The failed override attempt delivered Trump his second victory in two days, coming after Sunday's release of a summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation that found Trump and his campaign did not collude with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign.

"Even though the two issues clearly aren't related, it increases the president's strength and popularity and puts him in a stronger position," Republican Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma said before the vote.

The House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Democrats, was unable to garner enough Republican support to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to override the veto.

Fourteen Republicans joined 234 Democrats in voting to override. With the 248-181 result, Trump is likely to continue searching federal accounts for money to redirect to the wall, his signature campaign issue.

Another contentious political issue in Washington has re-emerged, as a reinvigorated Trump has vowed to replace the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare, a signature accomplishment of former president Barack Obama's administration — with a Republican plan.

The Justice Department announced on Monday that it was siding with a US District Court ruling in Texas in December that found the mandate requiring health insurance was unconstitutional. The mandate required individuals to have coverage or pay a fee if they decided to opt out. The Trump administration has removed the penalty, effective 2019.

After Tuesday's House vote on Trump's veto, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would work through the appropriations process to "terminate this dangerous action" by the president. Pelosi also said that Trump's emergency declaration could be reviewed again in six months.

Also, the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday denied the Pentagon's plan to shift $1 billion to build the wall, a move considered symbolic.

"The committee denies this request. The committee does not approve the proposed use of Department of Defense funds to construct additional physical barriers and roads or install lighting in the vicinity of the United States border," Democratic Representative Adam Smith of Washington state said in a letter to the Defense Department.

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan announced on Monday that the Department of Defense had shifted $1 billion from other military construction projects to build part of the southern border barrier.

The Pentagon maintains that it has the authority to move the money.

Trump declared the national emergency on Feb 15 in an effort to bypass Congress and move taxpayer funds for the wall away from other uses.

Bipartisan majorities of both the House and Senate rejected his move, voting to end the emergency. The president vetoed their resolution on March 15.

For two years, Congress has refused to meet Trump's demands for funding the wall that he promised in his 2016 campaign, although it appropriated some funds for border fencing and other barriers.

Trump has made addressing illegal immigration a key facet of his presidency.

On the Mueller probe, Democrats pushed for the Justice Department to release the full special counsel report by April 2. Attorney General William Barr so far has released a four-page letter summarizing Mueller's report, which documents a 22-month investigation.

A senior White House official said Trump was elated but also aggravated in the aftermath of the investigation.

"The president has a perfect combination of exuberation and righteous anger," the official said. "He has the right to be angry at an entire mainstream media and the entire Democrat Party for pushing a lie on the American people for two years without evidence."

Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon in a victory lap of sorts, heaping scorn on US media. He retweeted a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that was headlined "A Catastrophic Media Failure".

Earlier Tuesday, Trump tweeted: "The Mainstream Media is under fire and being scorned all over the World as being corrupt and FAKE. For two years they pushed the Russian Collusion Delusion when they always knew there was No Collusion. They truly are the Enemy of the People and the Real Opposition Party!"

Trump is expected to discuss the probe's conclusion at a Thursday rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

"We reserve the right to remind the American people that the Democrats have tried for two years, by lying to the American people, to overturn the election results of 2016," a senior Trump campaign official said. "And they don't get to just turn the page and say never mind."

Meanwhile, the healthcare debate appears to be shaping up as the next major partisan issue in Washington.

"Americans raised their hand and said, 'We want the Affordable Care Act protected, therefore we're going to vote for the party that says it will protect and preserve and, yes, even expand the Affordable Care Act,'" Representative Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, said at a news conference on Tuesday.

"The Republicans did say during the campaign that they weren't there to undermine the pre-existing condition benefit, and here they are, right now, saying they're going to strip the whole Affordable Care Act as the law of the land," Pelosi told reporters.

"The Republican Party will become 'The Party of Healthcare!'" Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded to the tweet with a red-penciled edit of Trump's tweet that said Republicans would become "the party that ended your health care".

Reuters contributed to this story.