Bah Humbug: Trump vetoes defense bill named for GOP lawmaker
Still not clear if the President will sign COVID relief bill okayed by Congress
It's Christmas Eve, and no one knows what the heck is going to happen in the next week on Capitol Hill. Here's "Regular Order" for December 24, 2020.
TRUMP VETOES BIPARTISAN DEFENSE BILL. Blocking a three percent pay raise for the troops, President Trump vetoed a $740.5 billion defense policy bill named for retiring Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX). The President doesn't like provisions which let the Pentagon rename bases named after Confederate generals. "Donald Trump is showing more devotion to Confederate base names than to the men and women who defend our nation," said Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI). The President also wants unrelated language put in the bill dealing with social media companies. Congress does not.
THIS BILL WILL BECOME LAW SOONER OR LATER. Both the House and Senate approved the defense bill by wide margins. Even if a veto override fails next week, Congress could pass the exact same measure early in 2021, and hand it to President Joe Biden for his signature as soon as he takes the oath of office on January 20. But it still presents an interesting choice for GOP lawmakers. Do they defy the President? The House will vote on a veto override next Monday.
WHAT ABOUT THE VIRUS RELIEF BILL? Making the holiday season more uncertain is that it's still not clear if President Trump is going to sign a Coronavirus aid bill into law or not. It could lead to a wild final week of 2020 in Congress with a veto override vote next week, a possible government shutdown starting Monday night, and the chance for a rare pocket veto of the virus relief measure. "I'm Just a Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock did not cover this type of post-Christmas scenario.
DEMOCRATS CALL TRUMP'S BLUFF. With President Trump saying he favors $2,000 direct payments instead of the $600 checks approved by Congress in a Coronavirus relief bill, Democrats will ask to approve that on the House floor Thursday morning. Republicans will object. This deal took seven months of agonizing negotiations - and the agreement may be in deep trouble - as the President’s complaints blindsided Republicans who voted for the bill.
TRUMP CRITICIZES HIS OWN BUDGET. When President Trump complained about foreign aid approved by lawmakers this week, backers said he was rightly showing how Congress wastes money. One item he highlighted was $1.3 billion in aid for Egypt's military. But there was one problem - President Trump asked for that $1.3 billion. It's in his own budget request. He made it for 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Some in the GOP blasted the President. “If @realDonaldTrump didn't want money going to foreign countries, he shouldn't have asked for it,” tweeted Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH).
TRUMP PARDONS ANOTHER GOP EX-LAWMAKER. In his latest grants of clemency, President Trump pardoned former Rep. Mark Siljander (R-MI). Siljander went to prison for obstruction of justice and failing to disclose lobbying activities for a group in Sudan with ties to terrorists. He’s the fourth former House Republican to get clemency this week. Also, the President pardoned the wife of ex-Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) for using campaign money on personal vacations, dinners, private school tuition, and to fly the family’s bunny rabbit on trips. Hunter was pardoned Tuesday.
NEWLY ELECTED GOP MEMBER HIT BY COVID. With ten days until the new Congress convenes on January 3, 2021, Rep.-Elect Luke Letlow (R-LA) is having a serious bout with the Coronavirus. A spokesman said Wednesday that the 41 year old Letlow had been transferred to a hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana for further medical treatment. He's reported to be in stable condition in intensive care.
FROM THE HISTORY BOOKS. On this day, December 24, 1963, Rep. J. J. "Jake" Pickle (D-TX) was sworn into office. A very close ally of LBJ, the affable Texas Democrat quickly drew my attention for the plastic green squeaky pickles that he handed out. I got one in 1980 when I was a House Page. We would call up the other Pages in the cloakroom on the phone, squeeze the plastic pickle to make its goofy sound, and hang up, giggling. Over forty years later, the pickle still works.
CHRISTMAS EVE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
House meets at 9 am.
Senate convenes at 10 am.
President Trump is at his Florida retreat.
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