Senate prepares vote on whether or not to override Trump’s defence bill veto

WASHINGTON DC (Sputnik): On 23 December, President Trump vetoed the $740 billion 2021 National Defence Authorisation Act, saying it failed to provide respect to US veterans and military history and contradicted his “America First” vision of national security.

The House moved to override the veto on Monday, with the bill’s future now resting in the hands of the Senate.

The United States Senate is set to vote on overriding the president’s veto on the 2021 defence spending package, with a motion to limit debate to be voted on this Friday, requiring the approval of 60 of the legislature’s 100 members, and a final vote expected either later Friday or Saturday, requiring a two-third majority for the presidential veto to be chucked out.

The vote will mark a last hurrah moment for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republicans to vote against their president, and if passed will be the first time in Trump’s four years in office that one of his vetoes has been overturned.

The Senate passed the 2021 NDAA with an 84-13 “veto proof” majority in December, and if its members vote the same way this time, Trump’s objection will be overridden.

Trump has vetoed nine bills during his tenure, the smallest number since the 1920s presidency of Warren G. Harding.

His predecessors Barack Obama and George W. Bush issued twelve vetoes apiece, while Bill Clinton vetoed 37 bills.

Franklin D Roosevelt holds the record for most vetoes in US history, using his presidential authority to try and block a total of 635 bills. Only nine of these vetoes were overturned.

Trump threatened to veto the 2021 NDAA for weeks before it passed the House and Senate last month, citing objection to its provision to strip Confederate names from US military bases, and a lack of Congressional action on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which protects tech companies from liability for restricting or censoring third-party content online.