https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/12/28/us/joe-biden-trump
Live
Updates: House Set to Vote on Overriding Trump’s Military Bill
Veto
The vote tonight could set up the first veto override
of his presidency. The bill passed by overwhelming margins, though some
Republicans who voted for it have indicated they will sustain his veto.
The House
is set to vote on overriding Trump’s veto of the annual military spending bill
tonight.
“Your decision should be based upon the oath we all
took, which was to the Constitution rather than any person or organization,”
Representative Mac Thornberry of Texas has urged his fellow Republicans.
The House
on Monday evening will vote on overriding President Trump’s veto of the annual
military spending bill, setting up a path for lawmakers to deliver the first
veto override of Mr. Trump’s presidency in his final days in office.
Mr. Trump
vetoed the bipartisan legislation on Wednesday, making good on a monthslong
series of threats, citing a shifting list of reasons including his objection to
its directing the military to strip the names of Confederate leaders from
bases. He has also demanded that the bill include the repeal of a legal shield
for social media companies that he has tangled with, a significant legislative
change that Republicans and Democrats alike have said is irrelevant to a bill
that dictates military policy.
But the
legislation, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes
raises for American troops, has longstanding, broad bipartisan support on
Capitol Hill, with lawmakers eager to use the bill as an opportunity to
demonstrate support for the military and national security and secure wins in
their own communities. Congress has successfully passed the legislation for 60
consecutive years, and this year’s measure passed the House and the Senate by
margins surpassing the two-thirds majority necessary in both chambers to force
enactment of the bill over Mr. Trump’s veto.
Mr. Trump’s
objections to the legislation have left some Republicans, who are typically
loath to challenge the president, poised to vote to override his veto.
Representative Mac Thornberry of Texas, the top Republican on the House Armed
Services Committee, the panel responsible for the legislation, urged his
colleagues not to let politics dictate their vote.
“Your
decision should be based upon the oath we all took, which was to the
Constitution rather than any person or organization,” Mr. Thornberry wrote.
Still, in
an indication of the party’s fealty to Mr. Trump, the top two Republicans in
the House, Representatives Kevin McCarthy of California and Steve Scalise of
Louisiana, have said they will vote to sustain the president’s veto. It is
unclear how many lawmakers will join them. Only 40 Republicans voted against
the bill earlier this month. The chamber passed it 335 to 78, meaning the House
could still vote to override the veto even if a few dozen Republicans switched their
votes.
The House
is also set to vote Monday evening to increase the size of individual stimulus
checks to $2,000 from $600, another measure that will force many Republicans to
choose between loyalty to Mr. Trump, who has demanded the increase, and their
own previous positions.
— Catie
Edmondson
In remarks about national security, Biden admonished
the White House for impeding the transition, calling it irresponsible.
President-elect
Joseph R. Biden Jr. said on Monday that his transition team faced “obstruction”
from the political leadership at the Defense Department, after participating in
a briefing with national security experts.CreditCredit...Amr Alfiky/The New
York Times
President-elect
Joseph R. Biden Jr. said on Monday that his transition team had faced
“obstruction” from the political leadership at the Defense Department, raising
new concerns about the Trump administration’s cooperation with transition
officials with just over three weeks until the inauguration.
“Right now,
we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing
administration in key national security areas,” Mr. Biden said in a brief
speech in Wilmington, Del. “It’s nothing short, in my view, of
irresponsibility.”
Mr. Biden
spoke after he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris participated in a
briefing with national security experts who are working on their transition.
The
Biden-Harris transition was hamstrung at the outset by the Trump
administration’s delay in formally designating him as the apparent winner of
the election.
Before
Christmas, Yohannes Abraham, the executive director of the Biden transition,
said that the president-elect’s team had encountered “isolated resistance in
some corners, including from political appointees within the Department of
Defense.” He expressed concern about what he described as “an abrupt halt in
the already limited cooperation there.”
The acting
defense secretary, Christopher C. Miller, had cited a “mutually agreed-upon
holiday pause,” but Mr. Abraham said that no such agreement had been made.
In his
presidential campaign, Mr. Biden emphasized his relationships with world
leaders and promised to rebuild alliances and restore America’s standing in the
world. He has already named most of his top foreign policy and national
security officials, though he has yet to announce his choice to lead the C.I.A.
Last week,
Mr. Biden harshly criticized President Trump for downplaying a far-reaching
Russian cyberattack on federal agencies and private companies.
— Thomas Kaplan
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