Trump votes National Defence Authoritative Bill

 

President Donald Trump vetoed the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act Wednesday, priming both chambers of Congress to return to session after Christmas to vote to override the president's rejection.

It's the first time Trump vetoed the annual defense policy legislation since taking office and Wednesday was the last day he had to reject it or it would become law without his signature. He indicated he was unhappy with the details and said he was returning it without his approval because it was a "gift" to Russia and China as it failed to include "critical" national security measures and ran contrary to his administration's efforts to put America first.

"Your failure to terminate the very dangerous national security risk of Section 230 will make our intelligence virtually impossible to conduct without everyone knowing what we are doing at every step," Trump said in a message to the House of Representatives.

Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act shields social media companies, including Twitter and Facebook, from liability for what their users post. Trump's advocated for repealing the law and said the failure of implementing any "meaningful changes" to it "facilitates the spread of foreign disinformation online." The NDAA does not include any repeal measures for the act, despite Trump's repeated calls for Congress to do so.

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Trump also took issue with how the NDAA addressed renaming certain military installations. As part of the bill, 10 Army bases that honor Confederate generals would be renamed within three years. They include Camp Beauregard and Forts Polk, Benning, Gordon, Bragg, A.P. Hill, Lee, Pickett, Rucker and Hood.

"From these facilities, we have won two World Wars," Trump said. "I have been clear in my opposition to politically motivated attempts like this to wash away history and to dishonor the immense progress our country has fought for in realizing our founding principles."

The House will return on December 28 for an override vote of Trump's veto, followed by the Senate on December 29. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hoped Trump wouldn't veto the bill and said on the Senate floor on Monday that his intention "was and is to ensure the Senate continues fulfilling our obligation to the men and women of our armed forces."

To pass the bill over the president's objections, there must be a two-thirds vote in each chamber of Congress. Some legislators, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who voted in favor of the bill originally said they would not support overriding Trump's veto.

Lawmakers have until January 3 to pass the defense bill before the new Congress takes over or legislators will have to start from scratch with a new bill. In the event a veto override is unsuccessful, House Armed Services Chair Adam Smith told Politico the only other option is to try to pass the exact same deal once President-elect Joe Biden takes office at the end of the year.