Despite Trump’s opposition … the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly supports the defense budget bill

The US House of Representatives passed the defense budget bill by an overwhelming majority, defying the threat of a veto from outgoing President Donald Trump.

This text must now be voted on in the Senate, where it is expected to also pass, before sending it to Trump.

The defense budget bill received 335 votes out of 430 in the House of Representatives, which far exceeds the two-thirds majority of House votes needed to override the presidential veto that Trump has stirred.

Only 40 of the 196 Republicans voted against the bill. It remains to be seen if all Republicans will keep their vote to counter any possible Trump veto.

Earlier, the president of the United States, who will leave office on January 20, wrote in a tweet: “I hope that the Republicans in the House of Representatives will vote against the law” on the defense budget “that I will face with a veto. “.

The defense budget bill, which totals $ 740.5 billion, has been the focus of negotiations between Republican and Democratic MPs for months. He expects a 3% increase in defense personnel salaries.

In July, two separate versions, presented to both houses of Congress, received the support of more than two-thirds of the members, the majority needed to circumvent the presidential veto. However, some Republican members may change their minds. The Republican president has several shortcomings in this budget. The text does not include the repeal of “Article 230”, which protects the legal status of social networks that Trump accuses of bias against him. He also criticizes the bill because it plans to change the names of the military bases that honor the generals who in the American Civil War belonged to the pro-slavery camp. The text also objects to Trump’s plan to reduce the US military presence in Germany. And it imposes on the Pentagon a period of no less than 120 days before any reduction in the number of the US military in Germany, which means that no US withdrawal can take place before Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The bill stipulates that any military withdrawal from Germany “at a time of growing threats in Europe constitutes a dangerous strategic mistake that will weaken the national security interests of the United States and weaken NATO.”