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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump threatens to veto military bill over Confederate bases, forcing a showdown with Republicans
President Trump formally threatened to veto a $740 billion military spending bill Tuesday hours before the House passed the legislation by a veto-proof majority, heralding a potential showdown between the White House and Congress over a bipartisan effort to rename several Army posts that commemorate Confederate generals.
The presidents threat and House lawmakers response is a moment of reckoning for Senate Republican leaders, who must now decide whether to allow votes on key bipartisan modifications to their version of the annual defense bill that might incur a similar veto warning, or attempt to tailor their legislation to stay closer in line with Trumps wishes.
In a statement, the White House listed several provisions of the Houses legislation that the president considers objectionable, chief among them a directive to the Pentagon to rename the 10 bases within a year. While avoiding mention of the Confederacy, White House advisers nevertheless called the order part of a sustained effort to erase from the history of the Nation those who do not meet an ever-shifting standard of conduct and an attempt to rewrite history and to displace the enduring legacy of the American Revolution with an ever-shifting standard of conduct.
Trumps move, which had been expected, failed to prevent the Democratic-controlled House from approving its version of the defense bill four hours later, in a vote of 295 to 125. But while the veto threat was focused solely on the House bill, it also presents a challenge for the Republican-controlled Senate, where lawmakers are debating a parallel measure ordering similar changes to bases named for Confederate officials, albeit under a three-year timeline.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-veto-confederate-bases/2020/07/21/9a45fa88-cb7b-11ea-91f1-28aca4d833a0_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-low_defensebill-537pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans
edhopper
(33,491 posts)OAITW r.2.0
(24,339 posts)This is a weird moment for the Republican Party. If they are smart, they will pow-wow with the Democrats to over-ride Trump's stupid logic for vetoing the bill. And always remember....what would Putin do? Exactly what Trump is doing.