US HOUSE VOTES TO OVERRIDE TRUMP’S DEFENSE BILL VETO

Tue 29 December 2020:

The US House of Representatives on Monday voted to override outgoing President Donald Trump’s veto of a major $740 billion (€604.7 billion) defense bill.

The Democrat-controlled chamber voted 322-87 to override the veto of the bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA defines the policy for the US Department of Defense and has passed every year in the last five decades.

Both chambers require two-thirds support to overrule the president, and the House received far more in the final 320-87 vote as the measure enjoyed sweeping bipartisan support. The Senate is expected to take up the override as early as Tuesday.

It passed the Senate earlier this month in an overwhelming 84-13 vote.

Trump, now in his lame-duck period before leaving office in January, vetoed the annual defense funding bill last week, following through on his threat to do so over a litany of grievances. Among them, the president has demanded the bill include revisions to an internet free speech law that shields websites from lawsuits over user-created content that they host.

Despite his demands, the bill does not include any efforts to rescind the statute.

Trump and his Republican allies have sought to focus on what is called Section 230 in their criticism of what they say are efforts by social media companies to censor conservative viewpoints.

Section 230 is one of the few remaining parts of the Communications Decency Act, which was largely struck down by the Supreme Court over free speech concerns.

The defense bill also has provisions that could impede Trump’s plans to pull back thousands of troops from places like Afghanistan and Germany.

Trump said during his veto that the bill restricts his ability to conduct foreign policy, “particularly my efforts to bring our troops home.”

He also claimed without evidence that China would be the biggest winner from the bill.

Trump has also lambasted a requirement within the bill that the Defense Department rename military installations that bear the name of Confederate officials. The confederacy was a separatist movement that fought against the US in the mid-1800s to maintain the right to own Black people as slaves.

After Monday’s vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the House had done its part to ensure the bill becomes law “despite the president’s dangerous sabotage efforts.”

The Senate is expected to vote on Tuesday as the veto will need to be overridden by both the chambers of Congress.

So far, Congress has not been able to override a Trump veto but the defense bill has garnered extensive support from US lawmakers.

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