President Trump on Wednesday vetoed a sweeping defense bill that authorizes a topline of $740 billion in spending and outlines Pentagon policy, as was reported by СNBC.
This year’s 4,517-page defense bill, which typically passes with strong bipartisan support and veto-proof majorities, funds America’s national security portfolio. It has been signed into law for nearly six consecutive decades. In addition to all the provisions, the bill’s passage, at the minimum, secures soldier pay raises and keeps crucial defense modernization programs running. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) also included the decisions on military assistance to Ukraine and the expansion of sanctions against Nord Stream-2 which are now in question.
According to Trump, the adopted Act will be a “gift” to China and Russia. The President, however, did not specify any details. Trump has previously said the measure also posed a serious threat to U.S. national security as well as election integrity but again did not give any further explanatory details.
“Unfortunately, the Act fails to include critical national security measures, includes provisions that fail to respect our veterans and our military’s history, and contradicts efforts by my administration to put America first in our national security and foreign policy actions,” Trump wrote in a lengthy statement to Congress.
It is noted, that earlier this month, the National Defense Authorization Act passed both houses of Congress by veto-proof margins, meaning that any veto by Trump would likely be overridden. Therefore, in order to override Trump’s decision, Congress must now vote again. The House is slated to return from a holiday break on Monday, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said his chamber would vote on overriding the veto Tuesday.
Notably, Trump threatened earlier this month to veto the mammoth defence bill if lawmakers did not include a measure to eliminate Section 230. The president’s issue with Section 230 came to light this summer after Twitter added warning labels to several of his tweets that alleged mail-in voting is fraudulent
On Thursday, he renewed the threat on his Twitter page. In his message to Congress, Trump wrote that the NDAA failed “to make any meaningful changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.” He called on Congress to repeal the measure.