Trump Vetoes Defense Bill, While COVID-19 Relief Bill Awaits Approval

U.S. President Donald Trump has delivered his promise earlier when he vetoed the defense policy bill worth $740.5 billion.

In addition, he has also demanded lawmakers to amend the COVID-19 relief package bill last-minute, increasing the stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000.

This creates new uncertainty in the remaining days of 2020 as a government shutdown nears, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

White House released a statement regarding the defense measure, saying that Trump objected to some of the provisions linked to Confederate base names as well as troop levels abroad.

Aside from that, the president rejects the legislation's language revoking internet platforms' broad immunity for the content they publish from users on their sites.

Trump has earlier urged lawmakers to repel Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, arguing that social media goliaths like Facebook and Twitter use it to suppress conservative voices on their sites.

What's Included in The Annual Defense Bill?

The annual defense policy bill includes pay rates for troops and allows funds for military construction projects, aircrafts, ships, nuclear weapons, and other facilities needed for security programs.

This also includes items connected to anti-money-laundering acts, cybersecurity, and the U.S. border wall.

The bill was passed both by the House and the Senate through a 335-78 and 84-13 votes, respectively.

The House is set to conduct its override vote against Trump's veto on Monday.

Senate will follow suit on Tuesday.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe said that the NDAA has become law every year for 59 years straight as it is a definite essential to the national security and the country's troops.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the president's veto as an "act of staggering recklessness that harms our troops, endangers our security and undermines the will of the bipartisan Congress."

Trump argued that the legislation includes provisions that fail to respect the veterans' and military's history, according to a Washington Post report.

COVID-19 Relief Bill

Meanwhile, Washington is struggling to pass a huge COVID-19 relief package that also funds the government.

Trump called on lawmakers to up the stimulus checks to Americans, making it $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for couples.

Trump's sudden change of heart surprised lawmakers and even garnered support from other officials from the Democratic party.

The over 5,000-page bill combines the COVID-19 relief and a $1.4 trillion funding needed to finance the government through September.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said that he had spoken to Trump and that the president was still contemplating whether to veto the relief bill, according to people familiar with the matter.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham hopes that Pelosi will agree with Trump that Big Tech needs to be controlled in the Section 230 liability protections.

Graham said that he believes this will lead Trump to support the NDAA and COVID-19 relief package bills.

Meanwhile, Democrat Sen. Chris Coons said that one of the challenges of creating a measure under the Trump administration is that they never really know what he is going to do right up until he Trump does it.