House lawmakers have voted to override President Donald Trump’s veto of the annual defense policy bill, the first override vote of his presidency.
Lawmakers voted 322-87 on Monday to override his veto — surpassing the required two-thirds vote. The Senate is also expected to override the president’s veto.
The U.S. House, 322-87, voted to override Pres. Trump's veto of teh National Defense Authorization Act.
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) December 29, 2020
The vote easily passes the necessary 2/3 threshold.
Now onto the Senate.
However, the Senate’s override vote may not come for several days as any senator can prolong the vote by using procedural measures.
Trump vetoed the $740-billion National Defense Authorization Act — which Congress has passed every year for the past 60 years – last week as he claimed it was a “‘gift’ to China and Russia.”
He also said he opposed it because it did not repeal a law giving protections to social media companies. Additionally, he opposed a portion of the bill that would change the names of military installations named after Confederate leaders.
Throughout his presidency, Trump vetoed eight other pieces of legislation that were not overridden by Congress as his Republican allies supported his vetoes.
However, the president’s advisers reportedly expected Congress to override his veto as the bill initially passed with more votes than were required to override a veto.
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) encouraged his fellow Republicans to support the override, as he said, “I would only ask that as members vote, they put the best interests of the country first.”
“There is no other consideration that should matter,” he added.
On Sunday, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) also weighed in on how Republicans should vote on whether to sustain the veto, “To sustain the President’s veto after you voted for this bill, I just don’t understand.”
