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WASHINGTON – The United States Congress dealt Donald Trump a humiliating blow in his final days in office with the Senate voting overwhelmingly to override his veto on a radical defense bill, the first time lawmakers have done so during his presidency.
By an uneven vote of 81-13, far more than the two-thirds of the 100-member chamber required, the Republican-controlled Senate passed the $ 740.5 billion National Defense Authorization Act to fund the military for the fiscal year 2021.
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The Democratic-led House of Representatives had voted 322-87 on Monday to override Trump’s veto.
Both houses of Congress had easily passed the legislation in early December by a strong majority, but Trump, citing a litany of objections, vetoed it on December 23.
“It is time that we deliver this bill,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said at the start of Friday’s session.
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“This is our opportunity to remember the brave service members and their families that we stand behind them.”
The vote completed a shocking rebuke in the final weeks of Trump’s presidency.
It came in an extraordinary session on New Years Day necessitated by his veto, possibly the final act of the outgoing Congress.
The new members will be sworn in on Sunday, just 17 days before Democrat Joe Biden takes office to succeed Trump.
