Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell walks through the US Capitol in Washington on December 30.
Photographer: Ting Shen / Bloomberg
Photographer: Ting Shen / Bloomberg
The Senate on Wednesday decided to vote to override President Donald Trump’s veto of a $ 740.5 billion defense policy bill, setting up a conflict with the White House that may not culminate until the final hours before the start of a new Congress on Sunday.
Majority leader Mitch McConnnell was forced on Wednesday to schedule a series of procedural votes because Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is delaying the process by demanding a separate vote on increasing US pandemic stimulus payments. $ 600 to $ 2,000 for most Americans. This increase was championed by Trump and Democrats, but many Republicans are opposed, and McConnell refused to present it as an independent project.
Under Senate procedures, the stalemate could delay the vote on replacing Trump’s veto for the first time until Saturday, or until Sunday, before the current Congress ends at noon, Washington time.
The procedural vote on Wednesday on a motion to annul the veto on the annual defense measure, HR 6395, was 80 to 12. In the absence of agreements being reached in the meantime, the next procedural move in the Senate may be a vote on Friday to limit the hours of debate.
The House voted 322-87 on Monday to overturn Trump’s veto, by far exceeding the necessary two-thirds limit, with support coming from a majority of Democrats and Republicans.
Previously: Trump attacks the Republican Party while the defense bill aggravates the Senate’s rebuke
Trump launched a bitter attack on his Republican counterparts on Tuesday.
“The weak and tired Republican ‘leadership’ will allow the terrible Defense Project to pass,” tweeted Trump. “Negotiate a better bill or get better leaders NOW!” he said.