Published 07:32 IST, December 24th 2020
Trump vetoes defense bill; Speaker Pelosi calls it “an act of staggering recklessness'
President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the annual defense policy bill, potentially setting up the first override vote of his presidency.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the annual defense policy bill, potentially setting up the first override veto of his presidency. The US President said the bill fails to include critical national security measures and is a 'gift' to Russia and China. Congress passed the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) earlier this month.
The action came while Trump sat tight at the White House, fretting about the election loss and escalating his stand-offs as he pushed fraudulent conspiracy theories and tried to pressure them to back his efforts to overturn the results.
Trump had earlier threatened to veto the NDAA because it fails to repeal a 1996 law that gives social media platforms liability protection for third-party posts and freedom to police the content.
'It is a ‘gift’ to China and Russia'
"My administration recognizes the importance of the Act to our national security," Trump said in a message notifying Congress of the veto.
He cited his objections and stated that the measure “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. It is a ‘gift’ to China and Russia.”
'An act of staggering recklessness'
Trump's move provoked swift condemnation, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling it “an act of staggering recklessness that harms our troops, endangers our security and undermines the will of the bipartisan Congress.”
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said Trump’s declaration that China was the biggest winner in the defense bill was false and said, “President Trump clearly hasn’t read the bill, nor does he understand what’s in it,” Reed said. “There are several bipartisan provisions in here that get tougher on China than the Trump Administration has ever been.”
In order to override Trump's veto, both the Senate and House would need two-thirds of their members to vote in favor of overriding it. The bill already passed the Senate in an 84-13 vote and the House in a 355-78 vote. The House plans to hold its veto override vote Monday in a rare post-Christmas session.
On December 13, Trump threatened to veto the Defense Spending Bill dispatched by the Senate with a veto-proof margin of 84-13 after it made to the US commander-in-chief’s desk. Citing China as the ‘biggest winner’ of the USD 740 million defense bill which additionally seeks to ramp down the US troops pulling out of Afghanistan, Trump warned that he would block the legislation passed by the Congress.
(With Agency Inputs)
Updated 07:32 IST, December 24th 2020