The House of Representatives voted on two bills Monday night with many Republicans breaking with President Donald Trump, leaving only a handful of GOP lawmakers who stood by the president on both votes.
The first vote was to increase the coronavirus relief payments from the latest COVID-19 relief aid package from $600 to $2,000, something Trump supports. In a 275-134 vote, the House passed the bill, which will now head to the Senate. The House needed a two-thirds of majority for it to pass.
The second vote was to override Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), making it the first time the House has overridden a veto from Trump. The vote was 322-87 to override Trump’s veto. The NDAA, for the fiscal year 2021, passed both the House and the Senate but was vetoed by Trump on Dec. 23.
Trump said that the NDAA “fails to include critical national security measures, includes provisions that fail to respect our veterans and our military’s history, and contradicts efforts by my Administration to put America first in our national security and foreign policy actions.”
The president also said it would be a “gift to China and Russia.”
Several of Trump’s allies broke with him on the House floor, voting against the president’s veto, such as Louisiana Republican Rep. Mike Johnson, Tennessee Republican Rep. Mark Green, Montana Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte, Mississippi Republican Rep. Trent Kelly, Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks, and Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw.
HERE ARE THE HOUSE REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED WITH TRUMP ON BOTH ISSUES:
Kentucky Rep. James Comer
Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart
Texas Rep. Michael Burgess
Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins
New York Rep. Chris Jacobs
West Virginia Rep. David McKinley
Indiana Rep. Greg Pence
New York Rep. Tom Reed
Missouri Rep. Jason Smith
New York Rep. Lee Zeldin
New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew
Trump also said that the NDAA “fails even to make any meaningful changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act” and “includes language that would require the renaming of certain military installations.” Trump said Section 230 must be repealed.
“Section 230 facilitates the spread of foreign disinformation online, which is a serious threat to our national security and election integrity,” Trump wrote Wednesday. “It must be repealed.”
The Senate will now have to vote on the override of the president’s veto as well as the increase in the stimulus checks.
Story cited here.
