Senate overrides Trump's veto of defense bill

(Image credit: Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)

published 1 January 2021

The Senate voted 81-13 on Friday to override President Trump's veto of the $741 billion defense authorization bill.

This is Congress' first veto override of Trump's presidency, which is now in its final days.

Earlier in the week, the House voted to back the legislation. It authorizes pay raises for service members and imposes new limits on how much of the military's construction budget the president can move by emergency order.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Trump said he vetoed the measure because he did not like how it restricts the president's ability to draw down troop levels, as well as the fact that it directs the Pentagon to strip the names of Confederate figures from U.S. military installations. Trump also wanted the legislation to include a repeal of liability protections for tech companies, a completely unrelated issue.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.