Senate overturns Trump’s defense veto bill, dealing legislative blow



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WASHINGTON – The Senate voted by an overwhelming majority on Friday to overturn President Trump’s veto on the annual military policy bill, garnering bipartisan support to enact the legislation over the president’s objections and delivering the first legislative rebuke of this type of his presidency.

The 81-to-13 vote, the last expected vote in this Congress, is the first time lawmakers have overturned one of Mr. Trump’s vetoes. This reflected the great popularity of a measure that allows a pay rise for the country’s military and amounted to an extraordinary reprimand addressed to Mr. Trump in the final weeks of his presidency.

The margin has exceeded the two-thirds majority needed to force passage of the bill over Mr. Trump’s objections. The House passed the bill on Monday, also achieving the required two-thirds majority.

Mr Trump, following a series of month-long threats, vetoed bipartisan legislation last week, citing a changing list of reasons, including his objection to a provision directing the military to withdraw the names of the Confederate leaders of the bases. He also demanded that the bill include the repeal of a legal shield for the social media companies he has meddled with, a significant legislative change that Republicans and Democrats say is irrelevant. for legislation that dictates military policy.

These objections infuriated lawmakers, who had worked for months to craft a bipartisan bill. They were proud to have passed the military bill every year for 60 years, and lawmakers in Mr. Trump’s own party finally decided to silence his concerns and push the legislation forward.

The last time Congress overturned a presidential veto was in 2016, the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency, after vetoing legislation allowing families of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks to sue Saudi government.

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