President Donald Trump renewed his threat on Thursday to veto a must-pass end-of-year defense spending bill that cleared Congress with large bipartisan majorities.
The Republican president is unhappy that the bill includes provisions to rename military bases named for Confederate officers and does not repeal Section 230, which gives social media companies liability protection for shared content.
The president cryptically tweeted that China would be “very unhappy” with his veto plans although it’s unclear what any of his disputes have to do with China.
He also backed objections by some anti-war conservatives that the bill makes it too difficult to abruptly withdraw troops from overseas.
“Must have Section 230 termination, protect our National Monuments and allow for removal of military from far away, and very unappreciative, lands,” Trump tweeted.
The sprawling bill, some version of which has passed every year for six decades, allows the government to pay troops stationed overseas and other urgent Pentagon needs.
It passed both the Democratic-led House and the GOP Senate with overwhelming veto-proof majorities.
Some GOP lawmakers, however, may be reluctant to vote to override Trump’s veto.
The unsettling veto threat from the lame-duck president comes as Congress has its hands full trying to negotiate a scaled-back compromise COVID relief package.
It also must pass a separate spending package to keep the government running past Friday night.
Trump has not yet objected to either of those measures, but if he does it could spark a government shutdown in the final weeks of his presidency.
