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“It is a gift for China and Russia”
© APA (AFP)
Shortly before the end of his presidency, Donald Trump faces the United States Congress over the defense budget: the Republican has vetoed the $ 740 billion budget approved by a bipartisan majority. But Congress could overturn it with a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate before the end of the year. It would be the first time in Trump’s term that Congress overruled his veto.
Trump declared in a letter to the House of Representatives that he could not support the law because it contravened the foreign policy and national security of his administration. “It is a gift to China and Russia,” Trump wrote, without explaining this. Another reason for his rejection was that Trump cited that Parliament wanted to block the withdrawal of troops from Germany that he had ordered. He also criticized the fact that online platforms would not be more strictly regulated by law. He also spoke out against the planned renaming of several military bases after protests against racism.
Immediately the resistance of the Congress arose, and that in both parties. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, accused Trump of wanting to throw the country into “chaos” in the last stretches of his term. The veto is an act of “stunning irresponsibility” that denies the soldiers and the military much-needed funds and threatens national security, Pelosi said. The House of Representatives will override Trump’s veto on Monday, he said.
Republican Senate Defense Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe said the legislative package was “absolutely essential to our military and national security.” He hoped that all the deputies and senators would work to ensure that “our army has the resources and equipment necessary to defend our country.” Democratic Senator Mark Warner said he hoped to overturn this “unsuccessful and ridiculous attempt” by the president. Apparently the Senate wanted to vote again next week because of the veto.
Trump had previously announced his veto. Both houses of Congress had originally approved the budget with a majority of more than two-thirds. If it came to that again, Trump’s veto would be invalid.
Trump had vetoed eight times during his four-year term, but Congress never overruled it. On Tuesday, Trump had surprisingly indicated that he also wanted to block a stimulus package from the crown backed by both parties.
The defense budget, in turn, was approved with bipartisan support for 59 consecutive years. Because the failure of the military budget is politically unthinkable, the legislative package, as usual, also deals with numerous regulations that actually have nothing to do with financing the armed forces, but are enforceable.
Trump, for example, wanted Congress to change what is known as Section 230, which protects online platforms from being liable for content posted by their users. Trump called Wednesday’s ruling “a serious threat to national security.” Critics, on the other hand, accuse Trump of only wanting revenge on Twitter and Facebook because they had repeatedly warned of his claims about the crown crisis and alleged fraud in the presidential election.
Republican Inhofe said he supported Trump’s request that the problem be addressed through a separate law. Senator Lindsey Graham, a close confidant of Trump, said he would not vote against the president’s veto unless Section 230 was abolished. However, it seemed extremely unlikely that there would be any changes to the law before the vote next week . The legislative term of the new congress begins on January 3, so it was hardly possible to postpone the budget vote.
The legislative package provides, among other things, that Trump’s planned massive withdrawal of US soldiers from Germany will be blocked for the time being. It says there that the United States Secretary of Defense must declare in a report to Congress whether such a withdrawal would be in the national interest of the United States. At the earliest 120 days later, the number of US soldiers stationed in the Federal Republic may fall below the 34,500 limit. Trump was furious Wednesday that this was not only bad policy, but also unconstitutional. The president is in command of the armed forces. The decision of how many soldiers will be deployed where is, therefore, yours.
The 4,500-plus-page legislative package also states that threats of sanctions against the German-Russian Baltic Sea Nord Stream 2 pipeline will be expanded.
Republican Trump lost the presidential election on November 3 to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump refuses to admit defeat. Biden will be sworn in on January 20. Until then, Trump remains in office with full rights as president.
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