The lower house of the US Congress intends to overcome the veto on the draft defense budget imposed by US President Donald Trump.

This was announced by the speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

"Next week, December 28, the House will decide to overcome the president's veto with the support of representatives of both parties," the politician said in a statement.

Trump's refusal to sign the defense budget is, according to Pelosi, "a manifestation of astounding recklessness."

“The president’s veto of the defense budget bill is an astounding recklessness that damages our military, endangers our security, and runs counter to the will of bipartisan congressional representatives,” she said, recalling that the law has been in force for 60 years "was adopted on the basis of approval by both parties and both chambers."

The former head of the White House vetoed the country's defense budget approved by Congress. 

“Unfortunately, this bill does not include critical national security measures, but contains provisions that undermine respect for our veterans and the history of our armed forces, and also contradicts my administration's efforts to prioritize US interests in implementing national security and foreign policy.

This is a "gift" to China and Russia, "Trump said in a statement to the House of Representatives.

At the same time, as the president noted, the draft defense budget "does not make any significant changes to paragraph 230 of the law" On the observance of decency in the means of communication, "despite the fact that representatives of both parties called for the abolition of this provision."

“Paragraph 230 promotes the spread of misinformation on the Internet by foreign actors, which poses a serious threat to our national security and the security of the electoral process.

It must be canceled, "the head of the White House stressed.

Recall that this paragraph states that technology companies are not responsible for the materials that are posted on their sites.

In addition, according to Trump, the draft defense budget limits the president's ability to ensure the security of the United States, "inappropriately cutting the amount of funds allocated to the construction of military facilities that can be used to respond to an emergency in the country."

  • US President Donald Trump

  • Reuters

  • © Erin Scott

“Numerous provisions of this bill directly contradict the foreign policy of my administration, in particular my efforts to return our military personnel to their homeland.

I, like the American public, oppose endless wars.

However, due to objections from representatives of both parties, the bill provides for limiting the president's ability to withdraw military contingent from Afghanistan, Germany and South Korea.

Such a policy is not only vicious, but also unconstitutional, ”the American leader said.

"A very weak law"

Recall that on December 11, the US Senate approved by an overwhelming majority of votes the draft of the country's defense budget (National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA) for the 2021 financial year.

Earlier, the relevant bill was also approved by the House of Representatives by a majority vote.

The draft defense budget assumes that most of it - $ 635.5 billion (out of more than $ 740 billion) will be spent on basic needs of the Pentagon, including operations abroad and the modernization of nuclear weapons of the United States.

In addition, it is indicated in the budget that salaries and equipment will be increased for servicemen.

The bill includes provisions on the need for a more thorough analysis before the withdrawal of the American military from Germany, Afghanistan and South Korea.

The document also limits the amount of funds allocated for the construction of the wall on the border with Mexico.

In addition, the draft defense budget involves the renaming of military bases named after leaders of the Confederate States.

In addition, it provides for tougher sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream gas pipelines, and restrictions on Ankara for the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems.

The document notes that in the interests of the US national security - including "restraining aggression against NATO allies" by Russia.

In addition, the bill prescribes "to create opportunities to strengthen the potential of NATO member states in the field of countering Russian malicious influence."

We will remind, earlier Trump has repeatedly spoken about plans to block the draft defense budget.

So, even before the vote in the lower house of Congress on his Twitter, he called this document "very weak."

  • The White house

  • Reuters

  • © Ken Cedeno

“I hope that the Republicans in the House of Representatives will vote against the very weak National Defense Budget Act, which I will veto.

The law should spell out the abolition (in the interests of national security) of section 230 (the law "On the observance of decency in the means of communication. -

RT

), the preservation of national monuments, the permission to use 5G technology and the reduction of the number of troops abroad," wrote the head of the White House ...

Trump announced his intention to veto the bill in his microblog on December 4.

He stressed that he was "very sad" for the United States, since maintaining paragraph 230 would negatively affect the country's national security and the integrity of the American elections.

"Will give more authority"

Analyzing Trump's statements that accompanied his decision to block the bill, experts draw attention to the fact that the head of the White House did not go without mentioning Russia and China. 

“Thus, he wants to show that, from his point of view, the provisions contained in the bill play only into the hands of the Russian Federation and the PRC.

However, this is exclusively Trump's interpretation, the authors of the document clearly did not set such a goal for themselves, "said Yuri Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, in an interview with RT.

In his opinion, having vetoed the document, Trump, among other things, is trying to achieve its change.

“To leave the bill in its current form, both houses of Congress will need to vote for it with a qualified majority.

Considering that the document was supported by the overwhelming majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the veto is likely to be overcome, ”Rogulyov predicts.

However, the analyst does not exclude a situation when some of the congressmen who previously voted for the bill now do not want to go against the will of the president.

As Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted in a conversation with RT, the vote will show the degree of support for Trump from his fellow party members.

“Of course, the president will try to make sure that a significant part of the Republicans in Congress supported him and did not allow him to overcome the veto,” Vasiliev said.

From his point of view, now Trump "was beneficial to block the document, so he found a reason for this." 

“Hence his PR statement about a“ gift ”to Russia and China,” Vasiliev says.

In fact, Trump, when deciding to block the document, was most likely guided by "internal political motivation," Vasiliev believes.

"If the veto is never overcome, ... it will give him more powers that he can use until Biden's inauguration," Vasiliev said.