Trump vetoes $740.5-bn defence bill, calls it 'gift' to Russia, China

President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the $740.5 billion US defense policy bill, touching off a battle with Congress that could end in his first override by lawmakers, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promising action next week.

 

In his veto statement, Trump called the annual defense measure a “gift” to China and Russia, saying it failed “to include critical national security measures, includes provisions that fail to respect our veterans and our military’s history.”

 

House and Senate members have already been notified that they might be called back to Washington next week to override the veto. The bill passed both chambers with enough support to reach the two-thirds threshold to overrule the president, although some members could change their votes.

 

Pelosi said in a statement shortly afterward that Congress would begin voting to override on Monday. “The president’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act is an act of staggering recklessness that harms our troops, endangers our security and undermines the will of the bipartisan Congress,” the California Democrat said.

 

Trump’s rejection of the crucial legislation aggravated already raw tensions between the White House and Capitol Hill and came just a day after he lambasted the coronavirus relief measure that both chambers of Congress had passed late Monday after months of negotiations.

 

David Popp, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said guidance on the Senate’s plans with regard to an override vote on the defense legislation would come after the House acts. The Senate is next scheduled to convene for regular business on December 29.

 

He wanted to attach to the defense measure an unrelated provision to eliminate Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects technology companies from liability for most content published by their users. He repeatedly tweeted veto warnings if Congress did not make that part of the annual legislation.

 

US Prez pardons more including Kushner’s father

 

US President Donald Trump issued a new raft of pardons on Wednesday for allies including the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, adding to a long list he has granted in his waning days in office.

In addition to the pardon for Charles Kushner, Trump also pardoned his 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort and longtime ally Roger Stone, the White House said in a statement.