CNN's Manu Raju tweeted Tuesday evening that Congress has passed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 that President Donald Trump threatened to veto.
Trump had two significant points that he wanted in the bill: First, he wanted to bar military bases from being able to change their names from Confederate generals who lost the war. Second, Trump wanted to go after social media giants, demanding that liability provisions be included so that he can sue companies like Twitter and Facebook.
At the end of July, Armed Services Committee Chair Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) loudly promised the president that he would ensure those two items were in the spending bill. Last week, however, Inhofe had to break the bad news to Trump. Again, he loudly took to speakerphone so anyone passing by could hear his failure to deliver for the president.
Tuesday, the House passed the defense bill in such large numbers that the president can't veto it. With 335 in support, Trump could issue the veto, and it would be easily overturned. It's possible given Trump's frustration with losing the 2020 election. Still, it certainly wouldn't be a good look for his final act in office to be overridden by Congress's bipartisan vote.
