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The telegraph
Republican senators deal a blow to Donald Trump, overturning his veto for the first time
Donald Trump received a scathing rebuke from Republican senators last night as Congress overturned its veto on a sweeping defense bill. It was the first time in four years in Mr. Trump’s presidency that Congress had blocked his veto power. Many Republican senators joined Democrats in an 81-to-13 vote to override, well beyond the required two-thirds majority. As a result, the annual National Defense Authorization Act of $ 740 billion to fund the military in 2021 will become law. Mr. Trump had called the expected result a “shameful act of cowardice” and the Republican leadership in Congress “weak.” The bill provides for a 3% pay increase for US troops and includes elements related to defense policy, troop levels, weapon systems and military construction. Mr. Trump had vetoed it, saying it allowed military bases that honor Confederate generals to be renamed and limited his ability to bring back troops from Afghanistan and Germany. He also tried to tie the passage of the bill to measures targeting social media companies. Throughout Mr. Trump’s tenure, Republican senators had been very reluctant to break with him so publicly. He had vetoed eight previous bills and none were overturned. But with less than three weeks remaining in office, Mr. Trump’s influence with Republican senators appears to have declined markedly. Mitch McConnell, the Republican Leader in the Senate, said: “It is time for us to introduce this bill. This is our chance to remind the brave servicemen and their families that we stand behind them.” It came as Republicans also faced a growing division over Mr. Trump’s latest attempt to reverse the outcome of the US presidential election. More than 140 Republicans in the House of Representatives may be ready to support a decision not to certify the outcome at a joint session of Congress on January 6, it has emerged. But even with this level of support, the attempt to block the outcome still had no chance of success. Mr McConnell privately urged his colleagues to accept the election result and called his own vote on Jan. 6 “the largest I have ever cast.” In an open letter Ben Sasse, the Republican senator from Nebraska, accused his colleagues of “playing with fire”. He said: “Let’s be clear what’s going on here. We have a group of ambitious politicians who believe there is a quick way to tap into the president’s populist base without causing real long-term damage. But they’re wrong. . ” do not point a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate autonomy. The decision to oppose the election results was triggered by Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri. vote in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The congressional session will take place a day after the second round of voting in Georgia, which will determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the Senate. David Perdue, one of the two Republican candidates, has announced that he will spend the last days of the campaign in quarantine after possible exposure to the coronavirus. Meanwhile, it emerged that personnel changes are due to be made to the Secret Service presidential details when Joe Biden takes office on January 20. Mr Biden’s camp was said to have expressed concerns that the current agents might support Mr Trump politically. Mr. Trump cut short a trip to Florida and returned to Washington on New Years Eve. In a New Years video message, he praised the “historic victories” on the economy and the fight against the pandemic. He said, “We have to remember what has been done.” In the final weeks of his tenure, the president also faced an ongoing battle with Republicans in Congress, including Mr McConnell, after calling for increased stimulus checks on Americans. He has also faced increasing friction with Iran.
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