President Donald Trump formally vetoed the $741 billion U.S. defense spending bill for 2021 on Wednesday (Dec. 23).
In a written statement to the U.S. House of Representatives, Trump said, “I am withholding approval of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and hereby return the Bill to you.”
Trump said his administration recognizes the bill’s importance to U.S. national security. “Unfortunately, the bill does not include critical national security measures, includes provisions that disrespect our veterans and the history of our military, and contradicts this administration’s efforts to put America at the forefront of national security and foreign policy actions. The bill “is a gift to China and Russia.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said before the vote on the bill, “The bill will prepare our troops to deter China and present a strong posture in the Indo-Pacific region.”
The U.S. Senate passed the fiscal year 2021 defense authorization bill Dec. 11 with a vote of 84 in favor and 13 against. The bill had also previously passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority.
Shortly after the House and Senate passed the $741 billion defense budget bill, Trump threatened to veto the bill, calling China the “biggest winner” of the bill. Trump did not specify what concerns led him to believe the bill favored China.
Previous analysts have argued that this is a “veto-proof majority” bill, a bill passed by a two-thirds majority with enough votes in the Republican-controlled Senate to make Trump’s veto threat meaningless.
Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued a statement immediately following Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, saying, “It is an unconscionable choice by the president to place obstacles in the way of approving a bill as vital as the annual U.S. defense budget bill behavior.”
Warner said Trump’s decision to choose to veto the bill, which was passed by a bipartisan, two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress, before he was about to leave the White House, poses a serious threat to U.S. national security.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also issued a statement following Trump’s veto of the defense budget bill, saying, “The president’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act is a stunningly reckless act that jeopardizes our military, jeopardizes our security and goes against the common will of members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.”
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