Last week in checks and balances:
The bill is officially called H.R.1735 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016. This link take you to Congress.gov's page on the bill and its process. The bill would authorize appropriations for defense for the current fiscal year. Since the year began October 1st, defense spending is covered under the continuing appropriations bill passed in late September. As 2305 students know, the bill goes back to the House and then the Senate for a possible override.
From The Hill: Obama vetoes defense bill.
The bill is officially called H.R.1735 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016. This link take you to Congress.gov's page on the bill and its process. The bill would authorize appropriations for defense for the current fiscal year. Since the year began October 1st, defense spending is covered under the continuing appropriations bill passed in late September. As 2305 students know, the bill goes back to the House and then the Senate for a possible override.
From The Hill: Obama vetoes defense bill.
Obama argues the bill irresponsibly skirts spending caps adopted in 2011 by putting $38 billion into a war fund not subject to the limits, a move he called a "gimmick." He has called on Congress to increase both defense and nondefense spending.
“Let’s have a budget that properly funds our national security as well as economic security, let’s make sure that we’re able in a constructive way to reform our military spending to make it sustainable over the long term,” Obama said.
The president also objects to language in the bill that requires the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison to remain open. Republican leaders expressed outrage with Obama’s decision to veto the bill, pointing out that it puts a scheduled pay raise for troops, among other policy changes, at risk.
“By placing domestic politics ahead of our troops, President Obama has put America’s national security at risk,” Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement. “This indefensible veto blocks pay and vital tools for our troops while Iranian terrorists prepare to gain billions under the president’s nuclear deal."
The move forces Congress to revisit the bill and send it back to the president. The military will continue to operate under last year’s defense policy if lawmakers cannot reach an agreement. Republicans have pledged to attempt to override Obama’s veto, but it’s unlikely they have the votes to do so.
The Senate voted 70-27 to pass the bill, and overriding the veto would require 67 votes. But Democratic leaders have said some members would switch their vote to avoid defying the president. The House vote count, 270-156, would not be enough to override a veto, which would take 290 votes.
The NYT editorializes in favor of the veto and walks through the reasoning behind it here.
For more:
- Politico: Obama vetoes massive defense bill over budget spat.
- The Blaze: Obama Vetoes Defense Bill Over Gitmo and His Demands for More Non-Defense Spending.
For a look at the status of all the appropriations bills click here.
