By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration issued on Tuesday a formal threat to veto the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, an annual bill setting policy for the military that has passed every year since 1961.
Despite stiff opposition from some of his fellow Republicans, as well as Democrats, the Office of Management and Budget said Trump’s advisers would recommend he veto the $740 billion bill because it does not eliminate liability shields for social media companies and because it would remove the names of Confederate generals from U.S. military installations.
Several lawmakers, including key Republicans, said they would vote to override a veto of what is seen as a must-pass bill. If it is not enacted by the time the current Congress leaves Washington at the end of this month, they said, pay for military service members would be cut and some important programs would be interrupted.
Republican Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe said earlier on Tuesday he would vote to override a veto, a departure for a lawmaker who is normally a staunch Trump supporter.
“Yes, I would,” Inhofe told reporters at the Capitol when asked if he would vote to override. He said he was “disappointed” Trump was urging members of their party in the House of Representatives to vote against the $740 billion bill.
The House was due to vote on the NDAA later on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Chris Reese and Jonathan Oatis)
