Defense bill clears House with veto-proof majority, despite Trump threats
Source: Washington Post
The House on Tuesday passed a bipartisan $741 billion defense authorization bill by a sizeable veto-proof majority, throwing down the first of two expected gauntlets before President Trump, who has escalated his threat to scuttle the legislation.
The 335 to 78 vote represents a bigger margin of victory for the bill than the House mustered for an earlier version of the legislation this summer. House leaders credit the increased support to changes that were made during a months-long negotiation process between the Senate and House, despite Trump’s exhortations to House Republicans to vote against the bill. The House’s vote sets up a challenge for the Senate, which has yet to vote on the legislation. Should senators approve the bill by a similarly decisive margin, leaders are hopeful the president will reconsider his veto threat.
GOP congressional leaders pleaded with their members in recent days to ignore the president’s demands, and vote in favor of the defense bill, which has become law for 59 years running. The legislation includes money not only for major military programs and weapons systems, it also funds service members’ annual pay raises and other compensation intended to reward highly specialized or potentially hazardous work.
“The stronger the vote, the less chance of having to deal with a veto later,” Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.), the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters Monday, adding that GOP lawmakers should seriously weigh the “consequences of a no vote” before siding with Trump.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/house-votes-defense-bill-ndaa-trump-veto/2020/12/07/b872dd72-38c3-11eb-9276-ae0ca72729be_story.html
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