'Veto war' between Trump and the US Congress 5
The draft National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2021 was passed by both houses of the US Congress with overwhelming votes, before being submitted to President Donald Trump for approval on December 11.
NDAA, a law worth up to 740 billion USD, helps outline policy for the US Department of Defense and is considered the country’s `must pass` law for the past 60 years.
However, since the beginning of the month, Trump has threatened to veto the NDAA if it does not invalidate Article 230, a provision in the US Communications Standards law that helps social networking companies, such as Facebook or Twitter, escape
However, both the House and Senate ignored Trump’s threat, passing this law with over 2/3 votes in favor without the provision to invalidate Article 230, arguing that it is beyond the authority of the United States.
Trump has 10 days from receiving the bill, excluding two Sundays, to make a decision.
US President Donald Trump spoke at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House on December 8.
What many members of both parties in Congress worry about is that Trump will `buy time` until the last minute, when lawmakers have left Washington for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
If this situation occurs, congressional leaders will face an unprecedented situation, when they will have to summon congressmen and senators back to Washington just a few days before Christmas and New Year to proceed.
US House leaders are discussing calling back lawmakers from December 28, but will not finalize the final plan until Trump officially vetoes the NDAA.
Initially, the House of Representatives discussed the option of `overriding` Trump on January 2, just one day earlier than the time lawmakers were expected to return to parliament.
According to an assistant, the House probably needs to vote to override Trump’s veto and send it to the Senate no later than December 29, to ensure the process `can overcome any procedural hurdles.`
In case of failure, they can return the law to the new Congress to hold a vote to override Trump’s veto, to quickly pass the bill.
A senior White House official said aides advised Trump not to veto the bill to avoid unusual situations, but did not specify who intervened and whether the President listened or not.
If Trump still persists in vetoing the law, Congress waiting until January 3 to override his authority could cause some problems in the implementation of the NDAA, such as delaying bonuses for soldiers or delaying bonuses for soldiers.
Because many key provisions expire at the end of December each year, lawmakers often rush to complete passage of the NDAA before the holidays.
In addition, congressional leaders are said to need a number of senators to proxy people to vote on their behalf to achieve a 2/3 vote in favor of overriding Trump’s veto, because dozens of parliamentarians are retiring or losing.
US House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith said last week that lawmakers’ `only option` if they cannot override Trump’s veto is to attempt to pass a similar defense bill after the President
It is said that lawmakers will also be in trouble if they cannot realize a bill to increase soldiers’ salaries and strengthen defense capabilities, after months of conflict with Trump because the President opposes changing the names of bases.
Trump on December 17 once again threatened to veto the NDAA on Twitter.
Although the votes in both chambers on the NDAA exceeded the two-thirds threshold needed to override Trump’s veto, some lawmakers still risk changing their minds for fear of angering the President, although
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is an example, when he said he would not vote against Trump’s veto, despite supporting the NDAA.
Graham, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced another bill to nullify Article 230, predicting a vote on the bill would `probably be enough` to avoid a `battle`.
