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Severe defeat of US President Trump: The US Congress has overruled Trump’s veto on the defense budget. The Republican-dominated Senate also voted on the budget bill with a large majority.
For the first time during Donald Trump’s tenure, the United States Congress overturned a presidential veto. After the House of Representatives, the Senate also overruled Trump’s veto against the legislative package on the US defense budget with the necessary two-thirds majority. The massive legislative package can now go into effect despite the absence of Trump’s signature.
The unusual meeting on New Year’s Day was made necessary because a new congress will be sworn in on Sunday. Trump returned to Washington earlier than planned Thursday without giving a reason.
Comfortable Majority Against Trump
81 senators voted in favor of the legislative package (with 13 votes against), thus overriding Trump’s veto. The two-thirds majority on camera was comfortably outnumbered. The legislative package on the defense budget comprises more than 4,500 pages and provides for a budget of around 740 billion dollars (611 billion euros).
The defense budget was approved with bipartisan support for 59 consecutive years. Among other things, Pentagon policy and decisions about troop strength, new weapons systems, personnel policy, and other military objectives are based on budget law. Because the failure of the military budget is politically unthinkable, the package, as usual, also deals with numerous regulations that actually have nothing to do with financing the armed forces.
Dispute over online platforms and troop withdrawal
Trump had vetoed the congressional decision. In support of this, he asserted in a letter to the House of Representatives that the law was contrary to the foreign policy and national security of his government. Among other things, the president criticized the fact that online platforms are not being regulated more strictly. Critics accuse Trump of seeking revenge on Twitter and Facebook, who feel he is being treated unfairly.
In addition, Trump opposes the renaming of several military bases, which was promoted after protests against racism. Trump considers it unconstitutional that the withdrawal of soldiers from Afghanistan, South Korea and Germany ordered by him is now limited by law. Under the constitution, the president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he said. The decision on how many soldiers should be deployed where is therefore yours.
During his four-year tenure, Trump had 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.
