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WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump, after giving in to pressure and signing a $ 900 billion coronavirus aid package, faces another possible humiliation this week with Congress set to hand over the first override of his veto. waning presidency.
It takes a two-thirds majority of voters in the 435-member House of Representatives and the 100-seat Senate to override Trump’s veto on the 2021 tax defense bill.
The $ 740.5 billion National Defense Authorization Act passed this month by 335 votes to 78 in the Democratic-controlled House and 84 to 13 in the Republican-majority Senate.
But the president vetoed the NDAA because he did not repeal Section 230, a federal law that provides liability protection for Internet companies.
Trump also opposed a provision that would strip several US military bases of the names of generals who fought for the secessionist and pro-slavery South in the Civil War of 1861-65.
The House will vote to override Trump’s veto later Monday, and Democrats are optimistic they have enough Republican support to do so. The Senate could address the matter later this week.
Including the defense bill, Trump has vetoed nine bills during his four years in the White House. Congress has not previously gathered votes to override any of its vetoes.
For a real estate mogul who prides himself on being a skilled negotiator, the past few days have been an exercise in humiliation.
Trump threatened for days not to sign the COVID-19 relief and spending bill that had been drafted by his own Treasury secretary and had received broad bipartisan support in Congress.
His surprise move ran the risk of shutting down the government starting Tuesday and depriving millions of Americans of much-needed economic relief during the pandemic.
Eventually, he backed down under pressure from Democrats and Republicans and signed the bill Sunday at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, out of sight of television cameras.
‘STOP THE MADNESS’
In an attempt to save face, Trump issued a statement expressing his complaints about the November 3 election and claiming that he had obtained a number of concessions.
Among Trump’s demands was an increase in direct aid payments to Americans from $ 600 to $ 2,000, a request that House Democrats welcomed enthusiastically and will vote on the measure on Monday.
However, the increase in direct payments has been met with skepticism by many members of Trump’s own Republican party.
President-elect Joe Biden, who was asked Monday by a reporter if he was in favor of increasing the payments to $ 2,000, replied, “Yes.”
And, speaking after a briefing by his transition teams on national security, Biden said political appointees at the Pentagon, whom Trump has filled with loyalties since the election, have refused to provide a “clear picture” on the stance. of the troops or the budget.
“In my opinion, it’s nothing short of irresponsibility,” Biden said in Wilmington, Delaware, warning that American adversaries could take advantage of the transition.
The bizarre episode about the aid package highlighted the degree to which Trump has isolated himself, spending most of his time criticizing his electoral defeat on Twitter.
In a sign of his waning influence, the New York Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch, one of Trump’s most ardent supporters, published an editorial Sunday night saying “Stop the Madness” and admitting that he lost the elections.
“Mr. President, it is time to end this dark charade,” the newspaper said. “We understand, Mr. President, that you are angry that you lost.
“But continuing down this road is ruinous,” the Post said. “If you insist on spending your last days in office threatening to burn everything down, that’s how they will remember it.
“Not as a revolutionary, but as the anarchist who supports the party.”
Trump’s Twitter account was unusually quiet Monday morning when he left Mar-a-Lago for another round of golf at the nearby Trump International Golf Club.
