US House overwhelmingly passes $740 billion defense bill, defying Trump veto threat

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly backed a defense policy bill worth a $740 billion that Republican President Donald Trump has opposed and pledged to veto.

In a 335-to-78 vote on Tuesday, the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, was passed with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans, a margin that is likely to overcome Trump’s veto.

“Today the House sent a strong, bipartisan message to the American people: Our service members and our national security are more important than politics,” said Democratic Representative Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, in a statement.

The passage sends the House toward a confrontation with Trump weeks before he is to leave office. The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation this week.

Supporters of the NDAA are hopeful that Trump will reconsider his veto threat, which was formally issued on Tuesday, if the bill passes by a large margin similar to the one in the House.

Lawmakers and staff have been working on the NDAA for most of the past year. The NDAA will expire unless enacted before the new Congress is seated on Jan 3.

The NDAA determines a number of policies for the Pentagon from how many ships and rifles to purchase to soldiers’ pay to how best to deal with geopolitical threats.

The NDAA has been passed for 59 straight years, a fact lawmakers cite as evidence of support for a strong defense.

Trump, however, has repeatedly threatened to veto this year’s measure, due to a provision - both the Democratic-led House and Republican-led Senate approved - to remove the names of Confederate generals from military bases.

He has also opposed the bill because it does not repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects giant tech firms like Alphabet Inc’s Google, Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. from liability for what appears on their platforms.

Trump and the majority of his backers argue the tech companies have an anti-conservative bias, which they deny.

“I hope House Republicans will vote against the very weak National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which I will VETO,” Trump said on Twitter.

“Must include a termination of Section 230 (for National Security purposes), preserve our National Monuments, & allow for 5G & troupe reductions in foreign lands!” he said.

Trump’s threats have frustrated lawmakers, who believe the tech measure is irrelevant to defense and does not belong in the NDAA.

“Our troops should not be punished because this bill does not fix everything that should be fixed,” said Representative Mac Thornberry, the top House Armed Services Committee Republican.

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