Trump defies U.S. Congress with defense budget veto

Trump defies US Congress with defense budget veto

Shortly before the end of his presidency, Donald Trump faces the US Congress over the defense budget: the Republican has vetoed the budget of 740 billion dollars (about 610 billion euros), which was approved by a bipartisan majority . But Congress could overturn it with a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate before the end of the year. It would be the first time in Trump’s term that Congress overruled his veto.

The legislative package is a “gift” to China and Russia, also making it impossible to bring US soldiers abroad “home (where they belong),” Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday. To justify his veto, he had declared on Wednesday, among other things, that Parliament wanted to block the withdrawal of troops from Germany that it had ordered. He also criticized the fact that online platforms would not be more strictly regulated by law. He also spoke out against the planned renaming of several military bases, named after the heroes of the former Confederate. Troops from the southern states had fought against the abolition of slavery and more rights for blacks in the American Civil War.

Resistance emerged immediately from Congress, and that from both parties. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, accused Trump of wanting to throw the country into “chaos” in the last stretches of his term. The veto is an act of “stunning irresponsibility,” which denies the soldiers and the military the funds they urgently need and endangers national security, Pelosi said. The House of Representatives will override Trump’s veto on Monday, he said. Senate Republican Defense Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe said the legislative package was “absolutely essential to our military and national security.”

Trump had previously announced his veto. Both houses of Congress had originally approved the budget with a majority of more than two-thirds. If it came to that again, Trump’s veto would be invalid. Trump had vetoed eight times in his four-year term, but Congress never struck down. On Tuesday, Trump had surprisingly indicated that he also wanted to block a stimulus package from the crown backed by both parties.

The defense budget, in turn, was approved with the support of all parties for 59 consecutive years. Because the failure of the military budget is politically unthinkable, the legislative package, as usual, also deals with numerous regulations that actually have nothing to do with financing the armed forces, but are enforceable.

Trump, for example, wanted Congress to change the regulation known as Section 230, which protects online platforms from being liable for content posted by their users. Trump calls the regulation “a serious threat to national security.” Critics accuse Trump of wanting revenge on Twitter and Facebook because he was repeatedly warned about alleged fraud in the presidential election.

The legislative package foresees, among other things, that the massive withdrawal of US soldiers from Germany planned by Trump will be blocked for the time being. There it says that the Secretary of Defense of the United States must declare in a report to Congress whether such a withdrawal would be in the national interest of the United States. The number of US soldiers stationed in the Federal Republic may fall below the 34,500 limit at least 120 days later. Trump was furious Wednesday that this was not only bad policy, but also unconstitutional. The president is in command of the armed forces. The decision of how many soldiers will be deployed where is therefore yours.

The more than 4,500-page legislative package also states that threats of sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 oil pipeline in the German-Russian Baltic Sea will be expanded.

Republican Trump lost the presidential election on November 3 to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump refuses to admit defeat. Biden will be sworn in on January 20. Until then, Trump will remain in office with full rights as president. (sda / dpa)