House Republicans have secured a provision in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act that prohibits the Department of Defense from contracting with disinformation companies such as NewsGuard, arguing that the Pentagon should not be engaged in censorship of domestic news outlets.
The House Armed Services Committee agreed to strip many provisions of its version in negotiations with its Democrat-controlled counterpart in the Senate, but the provision targeting government funding of censorship technology remained in the final legislation, which will likely receive a vote as soon as next week.
&#8220;I am proud that House Republicans successfully fought for a provision in the FY24 NDAA that ends the far-Left’s attacks on conservative outlets,&#8221; said Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. &#8220;We will continue to defend freedom of speech against the Biden administration’s far-left overreach.&#8221;
The NDAA must pass every year to fund the military, and has become a vessel for legislation that would otherwise stand no chance to pass as a stand-alone bill. Other provisions that failed to make it into the final version include bans on the Pentagon funding drag shows and so-called &#8220;gender-affirming health care&#8221; for transgender-identifying service members.
The provision comes as government funding of the censorship industry comes under the microscope. A senior committee aide says it was born out of concerns about the Pentagon award of $750,000 to NewsGuard for it to demonstrate whether its technology could be used for a defense application.
The aide said that companies such as NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index &#8220;pose as fact checkers of online content and claim to root out &#8216;misinformation,&#8217; but their process often censures conservative news outlets.&#8221;
Disinformation companies have stated aims to drive advertising dollars away from conservative media sites such as The Daily Wire by labeling them as sources of bad information. The Global Disinformation Index, for example, includes The Daily Wire, along with other popular conservative outlets such as The Federalist and New York Post, on its list of the top ten “riskiest” outlets.
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The committee said its provision would bar the Pentagon from using any of these tools when deciding how to spend its own advertising budget.
&#8220;The provision requires that any entity involved in military recruitment advertising must certify that it does not use personal political preferences or biases, or determinations of misinformation when choosing where it will place DoD advertisements,&#8221; the aide explained. &#8220;In the event NewsGuard or GDI makes such certification and the DoD defies Congressional intent and issues another contract to either company, the DoD must immediately explain to Congress why they issued the contract.&#8221;
The Pentagon, however, is not the only federal government entity providing funding to the censorship industry. The Daily Wire sued the Biden administration&#8217;s State Department on Tuesday for its own funding of censorship technologies.

Defense Secretary Austin And General Milley Hold A Press Conference At The Pentagon

House Republicans Secure Provision Barring Pentagon From Funding ‘Disinformation’ Industry

Department of Defense

House Republicans

NDAA

Pentagon

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-senate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate</a> passed its own version of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ndaa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Defense Authorization Act</a> (NDAA) on Thursday without adding an amendment to pull Pentagon funding for abortion travel, setting up a likely fight with the House. 
The Senate’s NDAA was widely backed by both Republicans and Democrats, passing in an 86-11 vote. 
&#8220;What&#8217;s happening in the Senate is a stark contrast to a bipartisan race to the bottom we saw in the House where House Republicans are pushing partisan legislation that has zero chance of passing,&#8221; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/27/senate-defense-bill-clash-house-gop/70478555007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;House Republicans should look to the Senate to see how things get done.&#8221;
The group of Republicans who voted <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00212.htm#position" target="_blank" rel="noopener">against</a> the bill included Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN). 
“I’ve worked in good faith throughout this process to secure as many wins for Ohio as possible, and I’m proud that many of those priorities have been included in the final version of the NDAA,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jd-vance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vance</a> said in a <a href="https://www.vance.senate.gov/press-releases/senator-vance-opposes-final-passage-of-the-ndaa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> on his opposition to the bill. “However, I cannot in good conscience support the broader package, which commits the United States to years of additional military aid for the war in Ukraine. It’s disappointing to me that these significant priorities that would benefit Ohioans have been bogged down with such deeply problematic foreign policy proposals.”
An amendment from Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) to reinstate soldiers who left or were discharged over the COVID vaccine failed, while an amendment to prohibit the purchase of American farmland by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea passed. The Senate also added a measure to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-moves-to-block-sale-of-oil-from-strategic-petroleum-reserve-to-china-iran" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ban sales of oil</a> from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia.
Paul <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/rand-paul-fights-preserve-constitutions-prominence-over-nato-authority" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> an amendment that would clarify that Congress has final authority on war declarations, but it was defeated 86-13. Paul said he wanted to make sure that “Article 5 of the NATO treaty does not supersede the Constitution.”
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Democrats and the media have claimed House Republicans politicized the bill by stripping the Pentagon’s authority to allocate money for women in the military to travel for abortions if they are in a state with pro-life protections.  
The House version, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-military-spending-bill-with-conservative-amendments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which passed 219-210</a> along mostly partisan lines, also prohibited military funding going toward sex change operations on military members. Military members are given a 5.2% raise in both versions of the NDAA. 
“Under this bill our men and women in uniform, who make sacrifices for our nation every day, will receive the biggest pay raise in decades, radical programs that are forced on our troops at the expense of readiness are eliminated, cutting-edge technology that is essential for the future of this country and will help deter Communist China will receive more investment, and taxpayers will save $40 billion as this bill roots out wasteful spending,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) <a href="https://www.speaker.gov/house-republicans-vote-to-defend-our-nation/">said</a> after the House passed its version.

Members Of Congress Meet With Visiting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Senate Passes Defense Bill With No Block On Funding For Abortion Travel, Setting Up Battle With House

Abortion

Chuck Schumer

Congress

JD Vance

Politics

Rand Paul

U.S. Senate

The Senate on Thursday passed an amendment to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-military-spending-bill-with-conservative-amendments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Defense Authorization Act</a> (NDAA) that would ban sales of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia.
The effort, which passed the Senate 85-12, was spearheaded by Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ted-cruz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ted Cruz</a> (R-TX) and West Virginia Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-manchin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Manchin</a> (D-WV). Under President Joe Biden, the SPR has been <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/us-emergency-oil-supply-shrinks-40-year-low-biden-keeps-tapping-reserve" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drained</a> to 40-year lows.
“We know China has been amassing the largest stockpile of crude in the world. Nevertheless, last year, the United States sold off part of our reserves to China. I have been working with Senator Manchin to prohibit such inexplicably reckless moves in a bipartisan way. Our amendment prevents the federal government from selling oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea. We should not be selling our emergency oil reserves to our adversaries,” Cruz <a href="https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-passes-cruz-amendment-prohibiting-sale-of-strategic-petroleum-reserve-oil-to-china-russia-iran-and-north-korea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Manchin, a critic of the Biden administration’s energy policy, also warned about American oil going to China.
“Following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. ramped up production and exports to help meet global demand. It had been devastating to the world. China, on the other hand, stockpiled oil and held back refinery production and while China was stockpiling, one of its state-owned companies purchased over 1.4 million barrels from the United States of America, the people of our great country, from our own stock of reserves. That’s what we’re trying to stop,” the West Virginia Democrat said.
In January, the House <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republican-led-house-votes-to-ban-oil-reserve-sales-to-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> a similar measure. Republicans at the time were joined by over 100 Democrats after Republicans raised concerns last year about the Biden administration selling <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-mace-bidens-sale-of-u-s-oil-reserves-to-china-may-support-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nearly a million barrels</a> from the reserve to a Chinese state-controlled crude giant.
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As part of a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/18/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-announce-new-actions-to-strengthen-u-s-energy-security-encourage-production-and-bring-down-costs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">180-million-barrel drawdown</a> through which the government sought to stabilize global oil markets and <a href="https://rollcall.com/2022/10/19/biden-to-announce-more-oil-reserve-sales-to-reduce-gas-prices/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">combat rising gasoline prices</a>, the Biden administration announced in July 2022 a number of contracts for the purchase of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Among those contracts to 14 companies was one for about 950,000 barrels awarded to Unipec America, a subsidiary of Communist Party-owned Sinopec Corp.
&#8220;The original intent of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was to ensure that America had sufficient oil reserves in the event of an emergency,&#8221; Cruz <a href="https://freebeacon.com/politics/senate-passes-bipartisan-measure-to-bar-us-from-selling-oil-reserves-to-china/?utm_source=actengage&amp;utm_campaign=FreedomMail&amp;utm_medium=email" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Thursday. &#8220;We are unnecessarily and dangerously undermining our national security in any instance that we sell any part of this stockpile to the Chinese Communist Party or any company under its control.&#8221;

Golden yellow oil rig energy industry machine oil crude In the sunset backlighting

Senate Moves To Block Sale Of Oil From Strategic Petroleum Reserve To China, Iran

China

Global Politics

Joe Manchin

Senate

Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Ted Cruz

The GOP-led House passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday with key conservative provisions that face long odds in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
The <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2023-07-14/house-approves-hijacked-ndaa-as-democrats-denounce-conservative-social-policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill passed</a> mostly along partisan lines in a 219-210 vote, which included amendments that prohibited funding Pentagon funding for travel for women seeking abortions and paying for transgender procedures on military service members. 
“Under this bill our men and women in uniform, who make sacrifices for our nation every day, will receive the biggest pay raise in decades, radical programs that are forced on our troops at the expense of readiness are eliminated, cutting-edge technology that is essential for the future of this country and will help deter Communist China will receive more investment, and taxpayers will save $40 billion as this bill roots out wasteful spending,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) <a href="https://www.speaker.gov/house-republicans-vote-to-defend-our-nation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. 
The NDAA will provide around $886 billion for military spending, which is more than the NDAA provided last year and than the Biden administration’s recommendation, <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/congress/congress-preps-defense-spending-increase-26-billion-debt-climbs-33-trillion?utm_source=daily&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Just the News. 
“When Speaker McCarthy was elected earlier this year he promised a more open process. He kept that promise today and it resulted in the most conservative NDAA I’ve ever seen,” <a href="https://twitter.com/RepJimBanks/status/1679881214734336001" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN). 
Democrats widely criticized the bill, claiming that it politicized military defense spending. 
“It is woefully irresponsible that extreme MAGA Republicans have hijacked a bipartisan bill that is essential to our national security and taken it over and weaponized it in order to jam their extreme right wing ideology down the throats of the American people,” <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2023-07-14/house-approves-hijacked-ndaa-as-democrats-denounce-conservative-social-policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
“I just voted against the defense bill because it was hijacked with rightwing garbage about drag shows, book bans, and attacks on women’s freedom. Under kevin mccarthy the inmates are running the asylum,” Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillPascrell/status/1679878080008011779" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a tweet.
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On Thursday, several amendments that sought to limit spending for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-moves-to-block-funding-for-abortion-travel-as-lawmakers-prepare-to-vote-on-military-spending" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ukraine</a> were defeated. One, from Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), would have revoked $300 million in spending for Ukraine&#8217;s defensive effort against Russian forces, while another, from Gaetz, would have removed all security assistance for Ukraine. Greene’s amendment failed 89-341 while Gaetz’s failed 70-358.
The bill will likely face headwinds in the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats who will likely be opposed to the amendments blocking funding for abortion travel, transgender surgeries, and some DEI initiatives. 
Senators are <a href="https://twitter.com/NOgnanovich/status/1679495576088465409" target="_blank" rel="noopener">set to consider</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/maxpcohen/status/1678828168101130268" target="_blank" rel="noopener">their own</a> <a href="https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy24_ndaa_bill_text.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NDAA</a> next week. Ultimately, the House and Senate will have to resolve any differences between their bills before an NDAA is sent to President Joe Biden for a signature.

U.S. House Passes National Defense Authorization Act

House Passes Military Spending Bill With Conservative Amendments

Jim Banks

Kevin McCarthy

Military

U.S. House of Representatives

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House</a> voted on Thursday evening to block <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pentagon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Pentagon</a> from spending taxpayer dollars on funding travel for women in the military seeking abortions as lawmakers prepare to vote on the annual National Defense Authorization Act.
The amendment to block funding for abortion travel was just one of the amendments added to the NDAA, which House Speaker Kevin McCarthy <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mccarthy-working-satisfy-gop-hard-liners-demanding-culture/story?id=101170953" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> will likely go before the House for a final vote on Friday. 
The abortion amendment, which passed 221-213, was <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/one-democrat-who-voted-republicans-block-military-abortions-1812906" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed</a> by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) and was passed largely along partisan lines, with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) joining Republicans in voting for the measure. 
“My amendment to STOP Biden from using the DOD to pay for abortion travel PASSED. This policy is ILLEGAL, and soon, it will be GONE. This is a GREAT DAY for our country!!” Jackson tweeted. 
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/13/pentagon-abortion-policy-house-republicans/">reportedly</a> “pissed off” that the House voted to block the military from funding abortion travel. 
Another amendment that passed was to block the Pentagon from funding transgender procedures on military members. 
“It is this administration that has turned the Department of Defense into a social-engineering experiment wrapped in a uniform,” Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/us/politics/house-republicans-defense-bill.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “The American people I’ve talked to back home don’t want a weak military; they don’t want a woke military; they don’t want rainbow propaganda on bases; they don’t want to pay for troops’ sex changes.”
An amendment from Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz that would have banned &#8220;federal funds for training on diversity, equity, and inclusion&#8221; failed after nine Republicans joined Democrats to vote it down. 
&#8220;Even if this amendment doesn&#8217;t pass I want my colleagues to know that this NDAA in the base bill takes a meat clever to DEI and the amendments we have adopted in the last round of voting certainly ensure that DEI &#8230; will not be a principle feature of our military service if this bill becomes law and that would be a great thing for our military,” Gaetz said. 
The Republicans who voted against Gaetz’s amendment <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/matt-gaetz-suffers-shock-bill-defeat-nine-republicans-vote-against-1812940#:~:text=An%20amendment%20introduced%20by%20Representative,Democrats%20to%20vote%20it%20down." target="_blank" rel="noopener">included</a> Reps. Don Bacon (NE), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR), Anthony D&#8217;Esposito (NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), John James (MI), Mike Lawler (NY), Marcus Molinaro (NY), Mike Turner (OH), and Del. Jenniffer González-Colón (PR).
A less expansive amendment banning some DEI programs was approved. 
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Amendments to limit spending for Ukraine <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4096744-majority-of-republicans-vote-down-greene-gaetz-ukraine-bills/#:~:text=Another%20proposal%20from%20Rep.%20Matt,with%20149%20Republicans%20opposing%20it." target="_blank" rel="noopener">were also</a> defeated. One, from Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), would have revoked $300 million in spending, while another, from Gaetz, would have removed all spending for Ukraine. Greene&#8217;s amendment failed 89-341 while Gaetz’s failed 70-358.
If passed, the NDAA will provide around $886 billion for military spending, which is more than the NDAA provided last year and than the Biden administration’s recommendation, <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/congress/congress-preps-defense-spending-increase-26-billion-debt-climbs-33-trillion?utm_source=daily&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Just the News. 
The House version of the bill would likely face headwinds in the Democrat-controlled Senate to the abortion and transgender-related amendments.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy

House Moves To Block Funding For Abortion Travel As Lawmakers Prepare To Vote On Military Spending

transgender surgery

Ukraine

A new national memorial honoring those who fought in the Global War on Terrorism will be constructed in Washington, D.C. as President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Monday, which contained the measure.
The bipartisan effort was in part led by Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst and New Hampshire Democrat Maggie Hassan. The <a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=86FE032D-3516-4C94-ACBC-4055C5CA5F56">Global War on Terrorism Memorial Location Act</a> was part of the roughly $770 billion National Defense Authorization Act.
“In the wake of 9/11, millions of Americans answered the call to keep America safe, sacrificing life and limb to protect our homeland and to fight the enemies of freedom the world over,” Ernst <a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=B65880E9-A1FF-420C-B218-2614673F99DA">said.</a>
She continued, “The time to honor these heroes of our nation’s longest war and their families is now, and there is no more fitting of a way to do that than with a memorial on our National Mall to serve as a permanent testament of their selflessness for generations to come.”
With Biden’s signing of the NDAA, she said that the memorial was “a done deal.” The measure sets three locations for potential landing spots for the memorial. 
The options for the memorial <a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=86FE032D-3516-4C94-ACBC-4055C5CA5F56">include</a> in the northwestern part of the Constitution Gardens, in West Potomac Park, and the JFK Hockey Fields. A memorial for the Global War on Terror had been <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/global-war-on-terrorism-memorial-one-step-closer-to-reality-with-passing-of-defense-bill">authorized</a> with no chosen location by President Trump in 2017. 
“We’re sure that every Gold Star family from the Global War on Terrorism would agree that this Memorial is going to be a treasured place to gather in the spirit of turning grief into honor. Our deepest appreciation to everyone involved in the years of preparation and passion for this Memorial!” said Gold Star Parents Terry and Beth Burgess. 
Several individuals involved with organizations devoted to remember those who have fought and died in the Global War on Terror also praised the decision. 
“My heart is at peace knowing my husband and all those who have fought, bled, and died will be honored the only way fitting of their immense sacrifice: with a memorial on the National Mall,” said Gold Star Wife Jane Horton. 
<a href="https://www.gwotmemorialfoundation.org/gwot-heroes-to-be-honored-on-national-mall/">According </a>to the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation, anyone who served in the military following the September 11 Islamic terror attacks will be honored by the memorial. 
“Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs have come together to do what is right – to honor the more than 7,000 men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation over the last two decades,” said Tunnel to Towers chairman Frank Siller. “I hope the passing of this bill brings peace to the families these heroes left behind. Now they will have an official Memorial where they can reflect and honor the loved ones they have lost.”
Biden <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/27/us/politics/biden-defense-bill.html">signed</a> the massive NDAA on Monday, designating billions of dollars to a wide variety of defense-related initiatives including aid to Ukraine and China-related spending. 
Other provisions included in the bill are a 2.7% raise for many service members and changes in the process by which the military investigates allegations of sexual misconduct.

Squad of Three Fully Equipped and Armed Soldiers Standing on Hill in Desert Environment in Sunset Light.

‘Sacrificing Life And Limb To Protect Our Homeland’: New War On Terror Memorial To Be Constructed In D.C.

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Iraq

Joe Biden

Veterans

President Trump vetoed a sweeping defense spending bill after repeatedly threatening to do so unless it addressed certain changes to regulations governing big tech corporations.
Trump <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/23/trump-vetoes-740-billion-ndaa-defense-bill.html">vetoed</a> the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Wednesday, setting up Congress to vote to override Trump and pass the bill without presidential approval. The bill passed both chambers of Congress with veto-proof majorities.
Trump had repeatedly threatened to veto the bill unless it addressed a list of his concerns, including reforms to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act which social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have used to protect themselves from liability for certain content posted on their sites.
“I will Veto the Defense Bill, which will make China very unhappy. They love it. Must have Section 230 termination, protect our National Monuments and allow for removal of military from far away, and very unappreciative, lands. Thank you!” Trump tweeted on Dec. 17.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already installed a contingency plan to vote to override Trump’s veto on Dec. 29. McConnell planned for the possibility of a Trump veto ahead of time, working out a deal with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to hold a session in the Senate in between Christmas and the New Year.
“My intention was and is to ensure the Senate continues fulfilling our obligation to the men and women of our armed forces. I hope the president will not veto this bill,” McConnell said during remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/531232-mcconnell-senate-to-return-dec-29-for-potential-trump-veto-override-vote">The Hill</a>.
“In the event that President Trump does elect to veto this bipartisan bill, it appears the House may choose to return after the holidays to set up a vote to consider the veto,” he added. “In the event that the president has vetoed the bill, and the House has voted to override the veto, the Senate would have the opportunity to process a veto override at that time.”
Trump also opposed a measure in the defense bill that would require the Pentagon to rename military bases and other assets named after members of the Confederacy. Trump outlined his opposition in a thread of tweets in June.
“It has been suggested that we should rename as many as 10 of our Legendary Military Bases, such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Benning in Georgia, etc. These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom,” Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1270787974880526337">said</a>. “The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars. Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations. Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) opposed the NDAA and has promised to help Trump and prevent an override vote in Congress, though it is unlikely Paul can stop it.

President Trump

President Trump Vetoes $740 Billion Defense Bill

Donald Trump

President Barack Obama has threatened to veto a <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/10/07/obama-threatens-veto-defense-bill-military-spending-gitmo/">defense bill</a> that is vital to the military just so he can shut down Guantanamo Bay.
From Breitbart:
<blockquote>
Buried in the middle of <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/defense-bill-gets-tangled-in-fight-over-fiscal-policy-1444177144" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a Wall Street Journal story</a> on the matter is what could be the more significant reason for the President&#8217;s veto threat: &#8220;Obama also is upset about provisions in the bill that would make it harder for him to transfer suspected terror detainees out of the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of his plan to close it before he leaves office.&#8221; His failure to deliver on that promise has long been a sore point with his far-Left constituency, especially after his outreach to the Castro regime.
</blockquote>
Obama <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/22/politics/guantanamo-bay-closing-plans-obama-earnest/">pledged to shut down Gitmo</a> when he took office in 2009, but he hasn&#8217;t been able to close it due to a resistant Congress and a ban on moving Gitmo detainees into the U.S. The pressure on Obama to close Gitmo has intensified after he normalized relations with Cuba, as Cuban dictator Raul Castro has demanded that the prison be returned to Cuban jurisdiction.
The radical left-wing president also doesn&#8217;t like how the National Defense Authorization Act increases <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/6/obama-veto-of-defense-policy-bill-possible-overrid/?page=2">funding</a> for the military by $38 billion more than sequestration caps, as Obama would rather have that money used for domestic purposes.
The Senate Democrats are standing with Obama, as Minority Leader Harry Reid has <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/senate-vote-massive-defense-bill-34310079">accused</a> the bill of funding defense with &#8220;funny money.&#8221;
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&#8220;Refusing to sign this bill would make history, but not in a good way.&#8221;
Washington Post
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Heritage Foundation defense budget expert Justin Johnson <a href="http://freebeacon.com/national-security/obama-threatens-to-veto-biggest-reform-to-pentagon-in-decades/">told</a> the Washington Free Beacon that the bill &#8220;is the biggest reform bill the Pentagon has seen in decades.&#8221;
&#8220;It moves the ball significantly on personnel and retirement reforms, acquisition reforms,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;So it&#8217;s really pretty significant change in a lot of ways that will be lost, or at least delayed at best, if the president vetoed this bill.&#8221;
Here are some details of the bill:
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A <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONGRESS_DEFENSE_TROOPS?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new retirement system</a>, scheduled to start in 2018, would expand the number of troops who receive retirement benefits while reducing the amount of direct government contributions to military pensions. It allows service members to divert a portion of their pay into 401(k)-style accounts, which the government will provide with matching contributions, up to 5 percent, for a 26-year period. Currently, 83 percent of troops <a href="https://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/114/PDF/114-CRHR1735-SxS.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">do not earn retirement benefits</a> because they did not serve at least 20 years.
The national defense act also aims to expand access for troops and veterans to prescription drugs, childcare, military flights for families of service members, and treatment at urgent care facilities.
Additionally, the defense bill presses the Pentagon to reduce its bureaucracy by shrinking headquarters&#8217; budgets and personnel by 20 percent and achieving $10 billion in cost savings by 2019.
</blockquote>
The NDAA, (the National Defense Authorization Act, which delineates the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense), has received bipartisan support for over 50 years and has only been vetoed by presidents four times in that period. The Washington Post editorial board, typically Obama cheerleaders, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mr-obama-should-sign-the-defense-authorization-bill/2015/10/03/a5653acc-6939-11e5-9ef3-fde182507eac_story.html">criticized</a> the president for his veto threat:
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What matters now, however, is that the Pentagon have certainty and predictability in a time of mounting tension in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The bill&#8217;s $612 billion price tag is roughly the total Mr. Obama himself requested. As it happens, the bill also contains important policy changes: major compensation reform that creates retirement savings options for more service members, a ban on torture and $50 million in lethal military aid for Ukraine.
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Refusing to sign this bill would make history, but not in a good way. Mr. Obama should let it become law and seek other sources of leverage in pursuing his legitimate goals for domestic sequestration relief.
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The Post&#8217;s editorial board thinks that Obama&#8217;s desire to close Gitmo is only a secondary reason for the veto threat. But this is unlikely, given Obama&#8217;s long-time desire to close the facility. 
Congressional Republicans have been criticized by the left for their efforts to defund Planned Parenthood; the left accuses them of threatening to shut down the government. But is Obama not doing the same thing in his veto threat of the defense bill? The government might not shut down as a result of this veto, but it would deny the military of needed reforms. Defunding Planned Parenthood and a resultant government shutdown does not harm the military. In fact, during the last shutdown, <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wheres-sense-of-crisis-in-a-17-government-shutdown/article/2536862">83 percent of the government was still functioning</a>.
Shutting down Gitmo is not feasible, as Rick Moran at American Thinker <a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/10/obama_to_veto_defense_bill_unless_congress_closes_guantanamo.html">points out:</a>
<blockquote>
In truth, there is no plan on what to do with the remaining 116 prisoners at the prison camp. President Obama has suggested that they can be safely housed in regular high-security American prisons, but Congress will not stand for that plan, and various other schemes have also been roundly rejected.
The only reason to close the prison is to assuage international opinion. Guantanamo is a &#8220;symbol&#8221; of American violations of international law &#8211; at least in the past. Currently, there are no prisoners in the world better treated. But a presidency of smoke and mirrors deals largely in symbolic gestures, so Gitmo has got to go.
</blockquote>
Given Planned Parenthood&#8217;s <a href="http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2015/07/30/fourth-undercover-video-reveals-planned-parenthood-sells-organs-from-babies-born-alive-n2032447">horrifying butchery</a> in dismembering and selling baby parts, threatening to shut down the government to defund the organization would be noble. A veto threat of much-needed military funding and reforms to shut down a prison that holds terrorists is anything but noble.

Obama Happy To Shut Down Defense To Kill Gitmo

Barack Obama

Guantanamo Bay

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