Defying Congress, Trump vetoes defense bill and threatens government shutdown

By Andy Sullivan and Steve Holland

 

U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One beside first lady Melania Trump at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., December 23, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump vetoed a bipartisan defense policy bill on Wednesday and raised the prospect that the United States could face a government shutdown during a pandemic, stirring new turmoil in Washington as he headed to Florida for Christmas.

 

Angry at his fellow Republicans in Congress, Trump sought to refashion two complex pieces of legislation that passed Congress by wide, bipartisan margins after months of negotiation.

 

Trump followed through on a threat to veto the defense bill and demanded dramatic changes to a $2.3 trillion package that funds the federal government and provides nearly $900 billion in coronavirus aid.

 

If Trump blocks the spending package, large parts of the U.S. government will start to shut down next week for lack of funds at a time when officials are distributing two coronavirus vaccines and working to respond to a massive hacking attack.

 

With less than a month left in office, Trump is angry that some Republicans have acknowledged his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 election. Biden will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

 

Trump said he vetoed the defense policy bill, which has passed every year since 1961, because he objected to liability protections for social media companies unrelated to national security and did not want to rename military bases that are currently named for generals who fought for the pro-slavery Confederacy during the Civil War.

 

Democrats and Republicans objected to Trump's veto of the National Defense Authorization Act.

 

"I look forward to overriding the President’s fruitless and ridiculous attempt to undermine our national security," Democratic Senator Mark Warner said in a statement.

 

Republican Senator Jim Inhofe also blasted Trump's veto.

 

"The NDAA has become law every year for 59 years straight because it’s absolutely vital to our national security and our troops," Inhofe said. "This year must not be an exception."

 

TRUMP SURPRISED ALLIES

In a video posted to social media on Tuesday evening, Trump surprised some of his closest officials by demanding lawmakers change the coronavirus aid part of the spending bill to include $2,000 payments to each American, more than triple the $600 per person provided.

 

A source familiar with the situation said aides thought they had talked Trump out of the $2,000 demand last week. The video surprised even Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who took part in the talks and backed the $600 figure.

 

Members of Congress had been discussing the $600 figure for almost a week before voting to approve it late on Monday night.

 

Trump did not explicitly say he would veto the bill, apparently holding out hope Congress would modify a package that took months to negotiate. The White House had said on Sunday that Trump would sign it into law.

 

Because this Congress is due to adjourn at the end of the year, to be replaced by a new Congress on Jan. 3, the bill will be automatically vetoed after 10 days if Trump takes no action, in what is known as a "pocket veto."

 

Trump sparked a record 35-day government shutdown two years ago when he rejected a federal spending bill over what he said was insufficient funding for building a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

 

Trump also demanded the bill be stripped of foreign aid, which is included in every annual federal spending bill - and was requested by his own administration last year. He objected to other government activities funded by the 5,500-page bill, such as fish breeding and funding for the Smithsonian museums.

 

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday the House would return on Dec. 28 to vote on whether to override Trump's veto. That is the same day government funding is due to expire.

 

Some congressional Democrats - who had viewed the relief package as too small a response to a crisis that has killed more than 320,000 Americans and thrown millions of people out of work - welcomed Trump's call for larger payments.

 

Pelosi said the House could vote to raise the payments on Thursday if House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy agreed.

McConnell and McCarthy's offices did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

The disagreement over the amount of stimulus payments have put Republicans in an awkward position. Many of them opposed$2,000 as too expensive, and they would have to either defy their party's leader or change their position on those payments.

 

"Let's get this into law, and we can have an ongoing discussion about whether there should be additional direct payments or not," Republican Senator Pat Toomey said on Fox News.

 

In Georgia, where control of the U.S. Senate hangs on a pair of Jan. 5 runoff elections, Democrats pressed incumbent Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler to say whether they agreed with Trump that the $600 payments were too low. Neither campaign responded to a request for comment.

 

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Steve Holland, additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Scott Malone)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-24

 

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49 minutes ago, webfact said:

Angry at his fellow Republicans in Congress, 

Donald, you've turned America into a laughing stock! You have cemented your place in history as the worst president of all time! And I mean, how bad were Nixon and Bush?

 

 

Edited December 23, 20205 yr by PatOngo

They have the votes grow a pair and override donalds tantrum stop kowtowing to this ...........man!

No one dislikes trump more than me. But they should not include things in a bill unrelated to that bill, and things like this would not happen,

  I have no opinion on of the issues objected by trump, such as renaming of facilities with confederate names,  fish breeding and funding for the Smithsonian museums, or litigation protection for social media, but all of these issues should be debated and stand along or fail  on their own merits. 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Defying Congress, Trump vetoes

I wish it would be like this: Defying Congress vetoes Trump

48 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Donald, you've turned America into a laughing stock! You have cemented your place in history as the worst president of all time! And I mean, how bad were Nixon and Bush?

Unfortunately it is not Donald alone. A big part (I think still the majority) of the GOP politicians still support Trump and his crazy ideas. And let's not forget the over 70,000,000 Americans who voted for Trump.

 

Trump could only rise in a country with huge problems and millions and millions of nutters. And they still think they are the top of the world. Ludicrous! 

The sooner this waste of space is gone the better. The man child is the absolute pits.

Pass the bill, get money in hands, then negotiate for more. 

 

Edited December 23, 20205 yr by Thailand

38 minutes ago, sirineou said:

No one dislikes trump more than me. But they should not include things in a bill unrelated to that bill, and things like this would not happen,

  I have no opinion on of the issues objected by trump, such as renaming of facilities with confederate names,  fish breeding and funding for the Smithsonian museums, or litigation protection for social media, but all of these issues should be debated and stand along or fail  on their own merits. 

Yeah, the whole process is a mess.  It's called pork barrel politics.  They stuff in things completely unrelated to the bill just to get junk through.  Terrible.

 

Trump had a chance to participate in this the past few weeks.  Instead, he holed up in his bunker and tweeted dozens of times every day with lies and abuse towards others.  

 

Supposedly, he got riled up because some conservative talk show hosts said the bill was bad.  Guess what?  He listened to them and like a parrot, pointed out the same items as they did.  What a terrible leader.

1 hour ago, PatOngo said:

Donald, you've turned America into a laughing stock! You have cemented your place in history as the worst president of all time! And I mean, how bad were Nixon and Bush?

 

 

You should have included Obama who makes Bush look like a rookie when considering the amount of ordnance dropped.

14 minutes ago, Sudarut said:

You should have included Obama who makes Bush look like a rookie when considering the amount of ordnance dropped.

Sorry but TRUMP has dropped more bombs than Bush or Obama.

Trump who vowed to end wars has dropped more bombs than Bush or Obama - 2LT News

IMO Trump is embarked on his version of chaos theory, he will do whatever it takes to screw things up while he still has the power to do so. Sowing dissension, fear, and hatred is his modus operandi.

 

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

No one dislikes trump more than me. But they should not include things in a bill unrelated to that bill, and things like this would not happen,

  I have no opinion on of the issues objected by trump, such as renaming of facilities with confederate names,  fish breeding and funding for the Smithsonian museums, or litigation protection for social media, but all of these issues should be debated and stand along or fail  on their own merits. 

It is what it is and what it always has been.

 

Inserting other requirements into bills is a means by which representatives get things done.

How does ‘Trump defunds military’ sound?

33 minutes ago, Sudarut said:

You should have included Obama who makes Bush look like a rookie when considering the amount of ordnance dropped.

You don't follow the news much, eh?  Just hate Obama?

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-bomb-isis-2015-11

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has elaborated on his strategy to defeat the terrorist group ISIS at a memorable rally in Iowa and during an interview Thursday on CNN.

 

During a speech at Decker Auditorium in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Trump said he would go after ISIS-controlled oil fields and "bomb the s--- out of 'em," to loud applause.

12 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

It is what it is and what it always has been.

 

Inserting other requirements into bills is a means by which representatives get things done.

A definition of Insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"  if the results so far  are satisfactory, than indeed we should continue doing the same things, if not then perhaps we need to start doing things differently. 

  Term limits.  campaign finance reform,  bills debated and voted or rejected on their own merits.

Elect me emperor and I will get all these things done!! 

Trump is non compos mentis.  End of story.

2 minutes ago, Tracyb said:

Trump is non compos mentis.  End of story.

Yes, he is non compos mentis as well as mental compost...

14 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Yes, he is non compos mentis as well as mental compost...

These comments are unfair to compost!

1 hour ago, Sudarut said:

You should have included Obama who makes Bush look like a rookie when considering the amount of ordnance dropped.

Where did Obama drop all that ordnance, because it wasn't in Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria? Certainly not even 2% of what Bush presided over.

 

Were you there? Did you see something everyone else in the world missed?

1 hour ago, Walker88 said:

Where did Obama drop all that ordnance, because it wasn't in Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria? Certainly not even 2% of what Bush presided over.

 

Were you there? Did you see something everyone else in the world missed?

Trump's record.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/28/us-afghanistan-war-bombs-2019

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-have-bombed-yemen-more-than-bush-and-obama-combined-2020-10

 

https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/09/donald-trump-is-dropping-bombs-at-unprecedented-levels/

 

Pass the popcorn. Much to see and expect the implosion of the Rep Party. Kiss Georgia goodbye as Trump continue his scorch earth lunacy. Only help Joe looking extremely good in the midst of the chaos in the government, surging pandemic and people desperation. Another upside likely Trump is destroying his own brand. 

This trump guy is just unbefxxkinglievable!

How stupid is the USA?

In the old days he would have been long gone but just a few more weeks and he will be out on his ass.

I just hope lesson learned for the USA but somehow i doubt it.

4 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Pass the popcorn. Much to see and expect the implosion of the Rep Party. Kiss Georgia goodbye as Trump continue his scorch earth lunacy. Only help Joe looking extremely good in the midst of the chaos in the government, surging pandemic and people desperation. Another upside likely Trump is destroying his own brand. 

Yeah, just read the dems are capitalizing on this big time in GA.  Fantastic.  I'm not a dem, but would love to see Mitch knocked down as speaker.  The senate would finally start to get some work done.

3 hours ago, sirineou said:

No one dislikes trump more than me. But they should not include things in a bill unrelated to that bill, and things like this would not happen,

  I have no opinion on of the issues objected by trump, such as renaming of facilities with confederate names,  fish breeding and funding for the Smithsonian museums, or litigation protection for social media, but all of these issues should be debated and stand along or fail  on their own merits. 

Please.  Firstly, most of what Trump is allegedly complaining about was in the defense budget that Trump's own administration submitted.  So he got what he asked for and is now whining about it.  Secondly, this isn't about national security or money or anything else other than Trump feeding his base (confederate base names) and Trump's own grievances regarding his tweets being flagged for lies. 

Bet Mitch McConnell is having a prolonged visit to the toilet. Payback for the tight fisted, deficit mewling  Republicans, who lost the faith and stopped supporting his vote fraud lie. He will leave office lashing out at everyone, full on bat guano crazy. It's making my Christmas. 

 

Aloha Donald

1 hour ago, Tracyb said:

Trump is non compos mentis.  End of story.

Non compos menace?

Sad little boy.

 

   The legislation is over 5000 pages long and the members of Congress were asked to vote on it with no time to actually read what is in the bill.  Terrible way to legislate.  

4 hours ago, sirineou said:

No one dislikes trump more than me. But they should not include things in a bill unrelated to that bill, and things like this would not happen,

  I have no opinion on of the issues objected by trump, such as renaming of facilities with confederate names,  fish breeding and funding for the Smithsonian museums, or litigation protection for social media, but all of these issues should be debated and stand along or fail  on their own merits. 

Confederate naming of USA military government facilities ssues WERE debated in Congress and included in the bill by a veto-proof majority. But Trump apparently wants to protect America's pro-slavery heritage.

9 minutes ago, newnative said:

   The legislation is over 5000 pages long and the members of Congress were asked to vote on it with no time to actually read what is in the bill.  Terrible way to legislate.  

 

Feature, not a bug.

 

Said to have pork content well above the usual 30%. Definitely not the lean cuts going into this sausage.

 

$200 billion in tax cuts for the rich. Yes, as a matter of fact I do need that fourth yacht and that third jet, so you better darn well keep those 50% exclusions in place.

 

I think some members + their staff have read everything, AOC and her staff have, although it is impossible to understand the long-range implications in a day or two?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 20205 yr by mtls2005