[ad_1]
WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – The United States House of Representatives on Tuesday (December 8) overwhelmingly endorsed a US $ 740 billion (S $ 989 billion) defense policy bill that President Donald Trump he vowed to veto, heading for a confrontation with the Republican president weeks before his approval. is to leave office.
The vote was 335-78 in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans, a margin that would be wide enough to overcome Trump’s promised veto.
“Today, the House sent a strong bipartisan message to the American people: Our service members and our national security are more important than politics,” Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.
The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation this week.
Supporters hope Trump will reconsider his threat of a veto if it passes by a margin similar to that of the House.
The NDAA sets policy for the Pentagon on everything from how many boats and rifles to buy to paying soldiers and how best to address geopolitical threats. Lawmakers proudly watch its passage for 59 years in a row, citing it as evidence supporting a strong defense.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to veto this year’s measure, first because of a provision, passed by both the Democratic-led House and the Republican-led Senate, to remove the names of Confederate generals from military bases.
More recently, he has objected because the NDAA does not repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies like Google, Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Facebook Inc from liability for what appears on their websites. platforms.
Without providing meaningful evidence, Trump and many of his supporters insist that tech companies have an anti-conservative bias, which they deny.
“I hope that the Republicans in the House of Representatives will vote against the very weak National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which I am going to pass,” Trump said on Twitter.
“It should include the termination of Section 230 (for National Security purposes), preserve our National Monuments, and allow for group reductions and 5G in foreign lands!” he said, before reposting his Tweet to correct the spelling of “troop.”
His threats frustrated lawmakers, who said the technology measure has nothing to do with defense and does not belong to the NDAA.
They also said Trump’s concerns about social media should not block a 4,500-page bill that is deemed essential to the Pentagon.
“Our troops shouldn’t be punished because this bill doesn’t fix everything that should be fixed,” said Representative Mac Thornberry, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.
The White House issued its formal veto threat Tuesday afternoon. Legislators and staff have been working on the NDAA for most of the past year.
While the majority of Congressional Republicans strongly support Trump, some said they would vote to override his veto, even if it means cutting their Christmas holidays short. Passing the NDAA in the Senate would give Trump 10 days, less Sundays, to cast a veto. Otherwise, it would automatically become law.
A successful annulment would be the first of Trump’s four-year presidency.
The NDAA will expire if it is not enacted before the new Congress is seated on January 3. Trump leaves office on January 20, when Democratic President-elect Joe Biden will take office.
Republican Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe said he would vote to override, an outlet for a lawmaker who is normally a staunch Trump supporter.
“Yes, he would,” Inhofe told reporters when asked if he would vote to annul. He said he was “disappointed” with Trump’s stance.
[ad_2]
