Posted on 12/21/2020 11:38:56 PM PST by RandFan
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced early Tuesday morning that the Senate will return to Washington on Dec. 29 in order to respond to a potential veto from President Trump of a mammoth defense bill.
McConnell, speaking from the Senate floor, said that he had struck a deal with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) for the chamber to return for a rare post-Christmas session where he said they will "process" a veto override, if it's passed by the House.
"My intention was and is to ensure the Senate continues fulfilling our obligation to the men and women of our Armed Forces. I hope the president will not veto this bill," McConnell said from the Senate floor.
"In the event that President Trump does elect to veto this bipartisan bill it appears the House may choose to return after the holidays to set up a vote to consider the veto. ...In the event that the president has vetoed the bill, and the House has voted to override the veto, the Senate would have the opportunity to process a veto override at that time," McConnell added.
Even if the Senate returns on Dec. 29 it could still be days before a final vote takes place on whether or not to override a potential veto from Trump of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The agreement from the Senate comes after the House decided on Monday that it would return to Washington on Dec. 28 for a veto override vote. Trump has issued eight vetoes during his tenure, none of which have been successfully overridden.
Because the House passed the defense bill first initially it also has to vote on the override attempt first. A Democratic House aide previously told The Hill that in order to overcome any procedural hurdles in the Senate they would need to vote to send the veto message across the Capitol by Dec. 29. If the House fails to override the veto, the effort is automatically squashed on Capitol Hill.
Senate leaders are likely to face procedural hurdles to getting to a final vote on whether or not to override Trump's veto.
Opponents of overriding the president’s veto could drag out procedural hurdles by forcing a cloture vote, requiring the override effort to initially get 60 votes, according to the Congressional Research Service. To ultimately override in the Senate, as in the House, will require two-thirds support.
GOP senators have previously floated that a final vote could wait until the morning of Jan. 3, before the new Congress is sworn in. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), McConnell's No. 2, warned on Monday night that it could take a "few days" for the Senate to go through all of the legislative hoops.
"Well, it will take more than one day if we have objections and I think we probably will. So the question is, if the House, if they override it, then yeah we'll have to set it up, and it may take a few days to do that," Thune said.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has aligned closely with Trump and tried to slow walk the defense bill earlier this month, indicated Monday he could similarly delay an override vote.
“I very much am opposed to the Afghan war, and I’ve told them I’ll come back to try to prevent them from easily overriding the president’s veto,” Paul told reporters.
Congress has until noon on Jan. 3 to override the veto. If Congress fails to override the veto by then, lawmakers would need to start from scratch on the bill, and it would be the first time in 60 years the bill does not become law.
The defense bill passed both chambers with veto-proof majorities and top GOP senators had indicated that there was backchanneling underway to try to get Trump to back down from his veto threat. He has until Wednesday to veto the bill.
Trump has doubled down on his threat several times, reiterating his complaints that it would not repeal a tech liability shield and would rename Confederate-named military bases. The president also added an unspecified gripe that the NDAA is weak on China.
“I will Veto the Defense Bill, which will make China very unhappy,” Trump tweeted Thursday. “They love it. Must have Section 230 termination, protect our National Monuments and allow for removal of military from far away, and very unappreciative, lands. Thank you!”
Hating Trump trumps warlust.
PDJT is the only president in the last 40 years, therefore, who has not initiated conflict
However, Carter certainly paid a price for the weakness portrayed by the United States that led to the hostage crisis and it’s duration. Remember, our people were not released until Reagan’s Inauguration.
Trump’s foreign policy has been excellent. Almost flawless.. peace and prosperity.
A pocket veto cannot be overcome by the current congress
Midge passed the Covid porkulus unanimously....so, no one is on record, with their votes, I think I read.
Paul stepping up, where are the others?
And McConnell is indeed a swamp rat of the lowest order.
Yeah....how does a guy with 17% approval keep getting re-elected? I think we now know, for sure.....DOMINION.
Didn’t Midge get a nice donation from this group?
Maybe if citizens show they do not support this garbage ...
Exactly. All President Trump has to do is ignore the bill and once the new congress is sworn in, they have to start all over.
You are assuming that the DEMS base has moral convictions? If a Democrat had to decide between saving military lives in war and murdering millions of unborns, trust me, they would choose the latter in every possible scenario.
Cocaine Mitch is working with Upchuck Schumer against Pres. Trump.
As usual, McConnell throws every bit of garbage legislation imaginable into these omnibus monsters and then claims it’s necessary we pass this monstrosity for our fighting men and women. He refuses to strip legislation down to separate bills without the garbage.
McConnell is the perfect face of congress. Corrupt.
The Democrats have always been the war-party. Democrats have held the presidency in nearly every conflict our country has had — including the Civil War with Jefferson Davis leading the belligerents.
...that site is interesting...
________________________________
It is that.
Lots of *younger* people who are pissed as all he!!. Also, they are social media savvy activists.
Lots of articles and sites I’d never even known existed if not for being posted there.
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