The telegraph
Republican senators attack Donald Trump, overturning his veto for the first time
Donald Trump received a poignant rebuke from Republican senators last night when Congress overturned his veto on a broad-based defense bill. It was the first time in Trump’s four years as president that Congress blocked his veto power. Many Republican senators joined the Democrats in an 81 to 13 vote to overturn, well above the required two-thirds majority. As a result, the $ 740 billion National Defense Authorization Act to finance the armed forces in 2021 will become law. Mr. Trump called the result, which was expected, an “embarrassing act of cowardice” and Republican leadership in Congress “weak”. The project will provide a 3% salary increase for American troops and included elements related to defense policy, troop levels, weapon systems and military construction. Trump vetoed it, arguing that it allowed the renaming of military bases that honored Confederate generals and that it limited his ability to bring troops from Afghanistan and Germany home. He also tried to link the bill’s approval to measures targeting social media companies. Throughout Trump’s term, Republican senators were very reluctant to break with him publicly. He vetoed eight previous projects and none were canceled. But with less than three weeks in office, Trump’s influence on Republican senators appeared to have diminished markedly. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said: “It is time to deliver this bill. It is our chance to remind the brave military and their families that we are protected.” This happened while Republicans also faced an increasingly deep divide over Trump’s last attempt to overturn the U.S. presidential election result. More than 140 Republicans in the House of Representatives may be ready to support an action not to certify the result at a joint Congressional session on January 6, he said. But even with this level of support, the attempt to block the result has not yet had a chance of success. Mr. McConnell in particular asked colleagues to accept the result of the election and considered his vote on January 6 to be “the most important ever cast”. In an open letter to Ben Sasse, the Republican senator from Nebraska accused colleagues of “playing with fire”. He said, “Let’s make it clear what’s going on here. We have a lot of ambitious politicians who think there is a quick way to get in touch with the president’s populist base without doing any real damage in the long run. But they are wrong. ” do not aim a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate self-government. “The movement to oppose the election results was initiated by Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri. He will object, forcing a two-hour debate, followed by a vote in the Senate and House of Representatives. The session in Congress will take place the day after two runoff runs in Georgia, which will determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the Senate. David Perdue, one of the two Republican candidates, announced that he would spend the last days of the campaign in quarantine after possible exposure to the coronavirus. , it was found that personnel changes would be made to the Presidential Secret Service detachment when Joe Biden took office on January 20. He said he expressed concerns that current agents might politically support Trump. Mr. Trump interrupted a trip to Florida and returned to Washington on New Year’s Eve. In a New Year video message, he hailed “historic victories” in the economy and in combating pandemic. He said, “We have to be remembered for what has been done.” In the final weeks of his term, the president also faced an ongoing battle with Republicans in Congress, including McConnell, after he called for an increase in stimulus checks on Americans. He also faced growing friction with Iran.