House votes to override Donald Trump’s defence bill veto, heads to Senate
- In final days, a weakened Donald Trump faces first veto override of his presidency
- Trump wants to repeal law that provides liability protection to internet companies
The US House of Representatives dealt a blow to President Donald Trump by rejecting his veto of a defence bill, setting the stage for the Senate to deliver a humiliating first veto override in the final days of his presidency.
The Democratic-controlled House on Monday voted 322 to 87 to override Trump’s veto of the US$740.5 billion defence bill with 109 members of the president’s own Republican Party siding with Democrats.
A similar motion will be introduced in the Republican-majority Senate, where it will also have to gain two-thirds support to override the president’s veto.
The Senate is planning to start its override process on Tuesday, with the final vote delayed until as late as January 3 if some senators insist on running out the legislative process.
In a statement released after the vote, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Trump’s veto as “reckless” and called on the president to “end his eleventh-hour campaign of chaos”.