Trump revives threat to veto defense bill

Trump revives threat to veto defense bill

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday repeated his threat to veto a massive defense spending bill, which was passed by the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate on Friday, giving the president 10 days - minus Sundays - to veto it, sign it or allow it to become law without his signature.

This report produced by Chris Dignam.

President Donald Trump on Sunday renewed his threat to veto a $740 billion dollar defense spending bill that was passed overwhelmingly by both chambers of Congress last week, with more than enough votes to make the legislation veto-proof.

On his way to the golf course, Trump said in an all caps tweet: "THE BIGGEST WINNER OF OUR NEW DEFENSE BILL IS CHINA!.

I WILL VETO!" While a veto by Trump would not stop the National Defense Authorization Act from being enacted, it would still set the stage for a major battle with lawmakers, as a veto would need to be overridden by another round of votes, putting political pressure on some of his allies in Congress at a time when they are racing to hammer out a compromise on a fresh economic stimulus package.

Backers of the bill had hoped that strong bipartisan support for the measure - which has been enacted for 59 straight years - would prompt Trump to reconsider his threat.

But the defense package did not include provisions that Trump wanted, including the repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies from liability for what appears on their platforms. Trump has argued that tech firms have an anti-conservative bias.

Lawmakers from both parties say that concerns about social media should not kill legislation considered essential for the Pentagon.

Trump also wanted to block a provision stripping the names of Confederate generals from military bases and he opposes parts of the legislation that could slow plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and Germany.

The defense package determines everything from how many ships are bought to soldiers' pay to how to address geopolitical threats.

A successful veto override would be the first of Trump's 1-term presidency.