Senate vote enacts into law $740bn defence spending legislation that President Donald Trump had objected to.
The United States Congress has voted to override President Donald Trump’s veto of a major defence bill, bringing to an end a tumultuous legislative session and political showdown that pitted the US president against members of his own Republican Party.
In a rare New Year’s Day session, the Senate voted 81 to 13 to reach the two-thirds majority required to override Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Democrats and Republicans joined together to support the $740bn defence bill, which sets the US’s military and strategic direction for the year ahead.
The Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives on December 28 also overwhelmingly voted to override the veto.
This is the first time Congress has rejected a veto by Trump during his presidency.
Trump, just weeks before he is set to leave the White House, had raised opposition to the bill, saying it would restrict his ability to reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan, South Korea and Germany.
Trump objected to language in the bill requiring the US military to rename bases named for Confederate figures in the US Civil War.
He also wanted Congress to repeal a section of a US communications law that allows users to freely post content on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
“Our $740 [sic] defense bill is a gift to China, Russia & Big Tech,” Trump tweeted on December 26 in defence of his decision to veto the legislation.
But in debate before the veto override vote, members of Congress dismissed Trump’s objections to the bill as misguided.
“The reasons the president has given, I don’t think are frivolous at all – but they just shouldn’t be tagged to this particular piece of legislation,” said Senator John Cornyn, a senior Republican.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, a one-time Trump ally who has drawn the president’s ire in recent weeks, had pledged to pass the legislation into law “one way or another” before Congress concluded on Sunday.
Focus on China
The 4,500-page legislation marks an ongoing and gradual shift in US military priorities, as it identifies China as the country’s top strategic threat.
Among numerous provisions, the legislation includes a new “Pacific Deterrence Initiative” designed to refocus the Pentagon on key gaps in US military capabilities in the Pacific. The Pentagon plans to invest more than $18.5bn over the next five years under the new initiative.
“We are in the most dangerous situation that we’ve been in before,” said Senator James Inhofe, Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which wrote the bill.
In Senate floor remarks, Inhofe said he views China’s construction of military bases in the South China Sea as preparation for “World War III”.
“This is the first time we have really stepped back and said, ‘We have a new threat rising in the Pacific. We have to take a holistic view’,” said Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
US-China relations have deteriorated over the past year.
Earlier this week, China’s defence ministry accused the US of a “provocation” and “a show of force” after two American warships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait – the second such mission in December.
Other issues
The defence legislation also directs the US military to accelerate development and testing of hypersonic missiles, a new kind of weapons system technology that China and Russia have deployed but the US has not.
Additionally, it includes a number of provisions to strengthen the US government’s cyber security capabilities – an issue that has come to the fore after several government agencies were hacked in a wide-reaching cyberattack that senior US officials blamed on Russia.
Under the legislation, a new National Cyber Director position will be created at the White House, which incoming President-elect Joe Biden has said he will fill.
Biden slammed Trump last month for “downplaying” the cyberattack.
Source : Al Jazeera
