The US Congress has overwhelmingly overturned Donald Trump’s veto of the annual $740 billion defence policy bill, delivering a resounding bipartisan rebuke to the President in his final days in the White House.
The overriding of the Congressional veto — the first of his administration — is seen as a stinging rebuke to President Trump given that the Senate, which is controlled by his Republican Party, voted 81-13 against his veto of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) 2021.
Early this week, the House of Representatives had voted 322-87 to override Trump’s veto. The President had vetoed the NDAA 2021 arguing that certain provisions of the bill impacted national security. He also disagreed with provisions to rename military installations bearing the names of Confederate generals.
Trump, who is set to be succeeded by President-elect Joe Biden on January 20, responded on Twitter hours after the first veto override of his presidency, saying, “Our Republican Senate just missed the opportunity to get rid of Section 230, which gives unlimited power to Big Tech companies. Pathetic!!!”