White House threatens to veto Senate defense bill

By
Reuters
|
White House threatens to veto Senate defense bill

WASHINGTON: The White House on Tuesday threatened to veto a Senate defense policy bill, saying it would prevent President Barack Obama from closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and limit the size of his National Security Council.

"The bill would undermine expert judgments of the (Defense) Department´s civilian and military leadership and constrain the ability of the president and the secretary of defense to appropriately manage and direct the nation´s defense," the White House said in a statement.

The $602 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, sets spending policy for the Pentagon each year. The Republican-led Congress generally uses the must-pass bill as a vehicle for a range of policy measures.

The Senate Armed Services Committee passed the bill last month. It is now being debated in the full Senate, where lawmakers have introduced hundreds of amendments.

Obama had already threatened to veto the House of Representatives´ version of the annual bill, which passed that chamber last month.

The White House opposed it for a number of reasons, including its use of $18 billion in special war funds
for day-to-day military programs to avoid automatic budget cuts.

The Senate version did not adopt that strategy. But Senator John McCain, the Armed Services Committee´s Republican chairman, filed an amendment with a similar plan to use $18 billion of
so-called Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funds to pay for additional troops, more equipment and an increase in a planned military pay increase.

McCain and other Republicans argue that the increased spending is necessary to keep Americans safe.

Democrats said they would support more military spending if Republicans also approve spending on civilian programs. Harry Reid, the top Democrat in the Senate, said Democrats would offer their own amendment adding funding for airport security, to combat Zika, for local police, to fight opioid addiction and improve infrastructure.

"If the Republicans pass the defense amendment but then block a similar increase to middle-class programs, they will have broken the budget agreement and the appropriations process will come to a grinding halt," Reid told a news conference.

After the House and Senate pass their versions of the NDAA, the two chambers agree on a final version of the bill. If that passes, it is sent for Obama to veto or sign into law.

Obama vetoed the 2016 NDAA because it sought to increase defense spending by using the war funds, and over the Guantanamo restrictions. He eventually signed a version with the Guantanamo measures after the spending plan was removed.