President vetoes defense bill, government faces shutdown

US President Donald Trump vetoed a bipartisan defense policy bill on Wednesday and raised the prospect that the United States could face a government shutdown during the pandemic, stirring new turmoil in Washington as he headed to Florida for Christmas.

The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, for fiscal year 2021 had passed the Senate in an 84-13 vote and the House of Representatives in a 355-78 vote, both reaching the two-thirds majority to override a presidential veto.

The veto is so rare in history that it has not happened to the NDAA for nearly six consecutive decades.

The presidential action followed through on Trump's threat to block the $741 billion annual national security legislation, which now depends on both the House of Representatives and the Senate overriding the veto for the bill to be enacted.

Trump followed through on a threat to veto the defense bill and demanded dramatic changes to a $2.3 trillion package that funds the federal government and provides nearly $900 billion in coronavirus aid.

If Trump blocks the spending package, large parts of the US government could start to shut down next week for lack of funds.

Trump said he vetoed the bill, which has passed every year since 1961, because he objected to liability protections for social media companies unrelated to national security and did not want to rename military bases that are currently named for generals who fought for the proslavery Confederacy during the Civil War.

The House is scheduled to hold the override vote on Monday, with the Senate to follow on Tuesday.

Agencies - Xinhua