President Trump vetoed the annual defense spending bill over – get this – Twitter, Facebook and the Confederacy.
The guy on his way out the door’s objections: the bill didn’t include a provision repealing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a law that provides a legal shield to tech companies like Twitter and Facebook, which has what, exactly, to do with the national defense; and then he doesn’t like that the bill does require the military to rename bases named for Confederate military leaders.
An override of his veto is entirely possible – the defense bill passed the Senate in an 84-13 vote and the House in a 355-78 vote.
Two-thirds votes in both chambers are necessary to override a presidential veto.
The House plans to come back to vote on the bill in a rare post-Christmas session early next week.
The override would have to happen before the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3.
Here’s a statement from Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner on what we can hope is one of the final bits of nonsense from 45:
“It’s unconscionable that the president would choose to throw a wrench into the passage of a bill as critical as our nation’s annual defense bill.
“The president’s decision to veto this bipartisan legislation on his way out the door poses a serious threat to U.S. national security. It jeopardizes mission readiness and the well-being of our U.S. servicemembers and their families, as well as military construction projects, investments in innovation and technology, and other critical defense priorities. It also threatens the economy in Virginia, which houses the Pentagon, major headquarters for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, as well as Naval Station Norfolk – the largest naval base in the world.
“I look forward to overriding the president’s fruitless and ridiculous attempt to undermine our national security over his shifting rationale for his decision to veto, including a provision to rename bases honoring Confederate military leaders – a provision that many in the president’s own party have supported.”
Story by Chris Graham
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