The House of Representatives successfully completed an override of a presidential veto for the first time since the Obama administration on Monday. With overwhelming majorities in both caucuses, the House issued an override of the National Defense Authorization Act.
The bill needed a two-thirds majority for a successful override.
The bill returns to the Senate, where it will also need a two-thirds majority to pass.
The veto was President Donald Trump’s ninth since taking office. Eight previous vetoes were successfully sustained.
The National Defense Authorization Act provides the Pentagon with $740 billion in funds, and authorized pay raises for members of the armed forces.
Trump objected to the bill due to the Pentagon’s policy of renaming US bases that are named for confederate leaders. Trump also used the legislation as an opportunity to state his grievances on Section 230, a US code that offers legal protection for internet sites and social media companies.
A number of Republicans have joined Democrats in condemning Trump for objecting to the defense funding bill.
“It’s definitely been erratic at the end here,” Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said in a Monday interview on MSNBC. “I think he’s more focused on grievances than finishing out strong… The NDAA, veto of that makes no sense, but hopefully, we override that. Section 230, if you have a real issue with Section 230, that’s fine but the defense bill isn’t the place to deal with it. That’s through the Energy and Commerce Committee and others.”
Overrides of presidential vetoes are relatively rare. President Barack Obama had just one of his 12 vetoes overridden. President George W. Bush had four of his 12 vetoes not sustained. President Bill Clinton issued 37 vetoes, only two were not sustained. President George H.W. Bush had all but one of his 44 vetoes sustained.
