The U.S. House of Representatives voted Monday to override President Donald Trump’s veto of a $ 740 billion defense bill in a reprimand against the president that underscored deep divisions within the Republican Party during his final weeks in office.
The 322-87 House vote, in which 109 Republicans voted to override Trump’s veto, leaves the fate of the measure to the Republican-led Senate, where a final vote is expected this week. If the Senate interrupts the House’s action, it would be the first veto over Trump’s presidency.
Trump, who is angry that some Republicans have acknowledged their loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden in the November 3 election, vetoed the defense proposal last Wednesday. Biden will be sworn in as president on January 20.
Trump said he blocked the law because he wanted it to repeal the liability of non-national media-related social media companies, and opposed a provision renaming military bases named after generals who fought for the pro-slavery union during the Civil War.
The legislation, which addresses a variety of defense policy issues and includes a pay rise for U.S. troops, has been passed by Congress each year since 1961.
The bill passed both chambers of Congress by margins greater than the two-thirds needed to override the president’s veto.
But Trump vetoed it anyway and the bill went back to Congress for further votes on whether to override the veto.
(REUTERS)
