The House of Representatives voted Monday to repeal President Donald Trump’s veto against an annual defence spending bill and put the final steps to challenge the Republican president in the hands of the Republican-led Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his House would vote to override the veto on Tuesday.
The bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021, was passed by the House of Representatives on December 8 with the support of more than three-quarters of the House members.
A large majority of the Republican-controlled Senate also approved the bill, giving both houses a yes higher share of the vote than the two-thirds needed to defeat a presidential veto.
The overall defence bill is usually passed with strong bipartisan support and majorities resisting the veto because it funds the US national security portfolio. It was signed into law every year for nearly six consecutive decades.
At a minimum, passage of the law secures an increase in soldiers’ pay and keeps important defense modernization programs going.
Trump provided a variety of reasons for opposing the 4,517-page NDAA this year, opposing the bill for both its contents and what it lacks.