Biden Transition Live Updates: House Set to Vote on Overriding Trump’s Military Bill

The House on Monday evening will vote on overriding President Trump’s veto of the annual military spending bill, setting up a path for lawmakers to deliver the first veto override of Mr. Trump’s presidency in his final days in office.

Mr. Trump vetoed the bipartisan legislation on Wednesday, making good on a monthslong series of threats, citing a shifting list of reasons including his objection to its directing the military to strip the names of Confederate leaders from bases. He has also demanded that the bill include the repeal of a legal shield for social media companies that he has tangled with, a significant legislative change that Republicans and Democrats alike have said is irrelevant to a bill that dictates military policy.

But the legislation, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes raises for American troops, has longstanding, broad bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers eager to use the bill as an opportunity to demonstrate support for the military and national security and secure wins in their own communities. Congress has successfully passed the legislation for 60 consecutive years, and this year’s measure passed the House and the Senate by margins surpassing the two-thirds majority necessary in both chambers to force enactment of the bill over Mr. Trump’s veto.

Mr. Trump’s objections to the legislation have left some Republicans, who are typically loath to challenge the president, poised to vote to override his veto. Representative Mac Thornberry of Texas, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, the panel responsible for the legislation, urged his colleagues not to let politics dictate their vote.

“Your decision should be based upon the oath we all took, which was to the Constitution rather than any person or organization,” Mr. Thornberry wrote.

Still, in an indication of the party’s fealty to Mr. Trump, the top two Republicans in the House, Representatives Kevin McCarthy of California and Steve Scalise of Louisiana, have said they will vote to sustain the president’s veto. It is unclear how many lawmakers will join them. Only 40 Republicans voted against the bill earlier this month. The chamber passed it 335 to 78, meaning the House could still vote to override the veto even if a few dozen Republicans switched their votes.

The House is also set to vote Monday evening to increase the size of individual stimulus checks to $2,000 from $600, another measure that will force many Republicans to choose between loyalty to Mr. Trump, who has demanded the increase, and their own previous positions.

Video

transcript

Back

transcript

Biden Calls White House Transition Blockages ‘Irresponsible’

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. said on Monday that his transition team faced “obstruction” from the political leadership at the Defense Department, after participating in a briefing with national security experts.

For some agencies, our teams received exemplary cooperation from the career staff in those agencies. From others, most notably the Department of Defense, we encountered obstruction from the political leadership of that department. And the truth is, many of the agencies that are critical to our security have incurred enormous damage. And right now, as our nation is in a period of transition, we need to make sure that nothing is lost in the handoff between administrations. My team needs a clear picture of our force posture around the world and our operations to deter our enemies. We need full visibility into the budget planning underway at the Defense Department and other agencies in order to avoid any window of confusion or catch-up that our adversaries may try to exploit. But as I said from the beginning, we have encountered roadblocks in the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget. Right now, we just aren’t getting all the information that we need for the ongoing— from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It’s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. said on Monday that his transition team had faced “obstruction” from the Defense Department, raising new concerns about the Trump administration’s cooperation with transition officials with just over three weeks until the inauguration.

“Right now, we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing…