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The United States House of Representatives overruled current President Donald Trump’s veto on the defense budget. In a vote in the House of Congress on Monday (local time), the necessary two-thirds majority was achieved. Trump’s Republicans also opposed the president in large numbers in the vote. If the United States Senate also votes against Trump’s line in a next step, this would be the first time in his term that a congressional veto has been overturned.
The president had refused to sign the legislative plans due to a dispute over the regulation of online platforms and a possible renaming of military bases. The legislative package on the defense budget comprises more than 4,500 pages and provides a budget of around 740 billion dollars (605.61 billion euros). As is customary in the United States, the package also addresses numerous regulations that are not directly related to the financing of the military.
Among other things, the draft stipulates that Trump’s planned mass withdrawal of US soldiers from Germany will be blocked for the time being. It states that the United States Secretary of Defense must indicate in a report to Congress whether such a withdrawal would be in the national interest of the United States. At least 120 days later, the number of US soldiers stationed in Germany should drop below the 34,500 limit.
The defense budget was approved with the support of all parties for 59 years in a row, also this year. However, Trump braced himself against the decision and vetoed it last Wednesday (December 23). To justify this, he stated in a letter to the House of Representatives that the law was contrary to the foreign policy and national security of his government.
MPs from both parties had campaigned in the House ahead of Monday’s vote to continue to support the bill despite Trump’s objections. “It’s the exact same bill, a comma was not changed,” said Republican Mac Thornberry.
Trump had criticized, among other things, that the law would not more closely regulate online platforms. He wanted Congress to change what is known as Section 230, which protects online platforms from having to answer for content posted by their users. Trump called the ruling “a serious threat to national security and the integrity of the elections.” Critics, in turn, accuse Trump of only wanting revenge on Twitter and Facebook, as they had warned him about the crown crisis and alleged fraud in the presidential elections.
In addition, Trump criticized the renaming of several military bases, which was promoted after protests against racism.
Regarding plans to legally limit the withdrawal of soldiers from Afghanistan, South Korea and Germany, which he ordered, Trump wrote that this was not only bad policy, but also unconstitutional. According to the constitution, the president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The decision on how many soldiers should be deployed where is therefore yours.
In his nearly four-year tenure, Trump had previously vetoed congressional legislative plans eight times. In none of these cases, however, had the required two-thirds majority been achieved in the chambers of parliament to override their veto. Democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives and Republicans in the Senate.
Trump lost the November 3 presidential election 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.
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