Washington\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0 Donald Trump on Sunday repeated his pledge to veto a sweeping defense budget bill, which US\u00a0lawmakers\u00a0passed by margins that would allow them to override the president’s rejection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With just weeks remaining in the White House, Trump has criticized the $740.5 billion measure in part because it does not abolish a law granting social media firms liability protection for third-party content on their platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has said social media giants like Facebook and Google are biased against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has also voiced disapproval of the bill’s language calling for renaming US military bases that honor commanders from the pro-slavery South in the Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a short, all-caps Twitter message, Trump said, “The biggesty winner of our new defense bill is China. I will veto!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The legislation was approved with well beyond the two-thirds “super-majority” needed to overcome a veto: 84-13 in the Republican-led Senate, and 335-78 in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. Presuming Trump follows through on his pledge, the legislation would be sent back to Congress where lawmakers would have to approve it by a two-thirds majority to override the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defense bill was a particular priority for some Republicans. Republican Senator Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called it “the most important bill of the year.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill also mandates that the president slap sanctions on Turkey within 30 days for its acquisition of a Russian-made missile defense system. Trump has resisted such punishments against Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0 Donald Trump on Sunday repeated his pledge to veto a sweeping defense budget bill, which US\u00a0lawmakers\u00a0passed by margins that would allow them to override the president’s rejection. With just weeks remaining in the White House, Trump has criticized the $740.5 billion measure in […]<\/p>\n
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