Donald Trump Officially Vetoes “The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021”

Today, President Trump officially vetoed H.R. 6395, the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (the “Act”). This is not the same bill as the massive COVID relief and end-of-year spending bill. In his Presidential veto message to the House of Representatives, President Trump details the following reasons for vetoing the bill:

• “The Act fails to include critical national security measures, includes provisions that fail to respect our veterans and our military’s history, and contradicts efforts by my Administration to put America first in our national security and foreign policy actions.  It is a ‘gift’ to China and Russia.”
• “Failure to terminate the very dangerous national security risk of Section 230 will make our intelligence virtually impossible to conduct without everyone knowing what we are doing at every step.”
• “The Act fails even to make any meaningful changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act… Section 230 facilitates the spread of foreign disinformation online, which is a serious threat to our national security and election integrity.”
  
• “The Act includes language that would require the renaming of certain military installations… My Administration respects the legacy of the millions of American servicemen and women who have served with honor at these military bases… I have been clear in my opposition to politically motivated attempts like this to wash away history and to dishonor the immense progress our country has fought for in realizing our founding principles.”
• The Act “restricts the President’s ability to preserve our Nation’s security by arbitrarily limiting the amount of military construction funds that can be used to respond to a national emergency” and “contains an amendment that would slow down the rollout of nationwide 5G, especially in rural areas.”
• “This Act purports to restrict the President’s ability to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, Germany, and South Korea.  Not only is this bad policy, but it is unconstitutional.  Article II of the Constitution makes the President the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States and vests in him the executive power. Therefore, the decision regarding how many troops to deploy and where, including in Afghanistan, Germany, and South Korea, rests with him.”

President Trump closes the official veto message by stating that the bill would “put the interests of the Washington, D.C. establishment over those of the American people, which seems to be a theme with Congress these days.”

The New York Post previously detailed a bipartisan deal between Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell to override the President’s veto, which they anticipated. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said,

“The Democrat leader and I have agreed to unanimous request as follows: The Senate will meet for pro forma sessions only until Dec. 29 when we will return to session.”

“In the event that President Trump does elect to veto this bipartisan bill, it appears the House may choose to return after the holidays to set up a vote to consider the veto … In the event that the president has vetoed the bill, and the House has voted to override the veto, the Senate would have the opportunity to process a veto override at that time.”

In order to override President Trump’s veto, two thirds of the House and Senate must vote in favor of the legislation. The bill originally passed the House 335-78 and the Senate 84-13, which is more than the two thirds needed.