LIVE: McConnell, GOP Face Double Split With Trump Over Covid-19 Relief, Defense Bill

(Dec. 24) Congressional Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, face high-stakes decisions in coming days over two giant pieces of bipartisan legislation that President Donald Trump savaged this week.

Trump on Wednesday vetoed a $740.5 billion annual defense spending bill, which passed both chambers of Congress with greater than two-thirds majorities earlier this month. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans a vote to override that veto next week, with McConnell’s office pledging guidance on his intentions after the House acts.

Also in play is a mammoth $2.3 trillion Covid-19 relief and government funding bill, which Trump attacked Tuesday for including “wasteful” spending and for having insufficient stimulus checks. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer plans to introduce his call for $2,000 payments -- up from the $600 previously authorized -- in the House Thursday, but GOP members intend to block it.

If the Thursday attempt fails, Democrats plan to vote Dec. 28 on new legislation to codify the $2,000 payments. They could also vote on another stopgap measure to fund the government past the current spending deadline of midnight that day. While that would avert a government shutdown if the Senate also passes it and the president signs it, it is still unclear what Trump plans to do with the larger pandemic relief and annual spending bill Congress passed Monday.

David Popp, a spokesman for McConnell, didn’t respond to questions about Trump’s call for increased direct payments and Pelosi’s plan to pursue this in the House.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy plans to seek unanimous consent on a counter measure to “revisit” part of the government spending bill dealing with foreign aid, echoing a Trump complaint about the federal spending that was combined with pandemic relief. McCarthy, in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday night, said Congress should “reexamine how our tax dollars are spent overseas,” even though those provisions were part of a bipartisan appropriations process.

How Republican leaders respond to Trump’s criticisms could affect the outcome of the Jan. 5 Georgia runoff elections that will determine control of the Senate for the next two years -- and whether McConnell will continue to oversee the flow of legislation and political and judicial nominations in Washington.

Trump rejected the defense policy bill on Wednesday, saying the legislation was a “gift” to China and Russia and failed “to include critical national security measures.“

Trump wanted to attach to the defense measure an unrelated provision to eliminate Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects technology companies from liability for most content published by their users. He had also criticized the legislation because it contained a provision for renaming military installations that honor Confederate generals.

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jim Inhofe, said the defense bill is “vital to our national security and our troops.” Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, said Trump’s complaints about technology liability could be addressed in different legislation.

“I hope all of my colleagues in Congress will join me in making sure our troops have the resources and equipment they need to defend this nation,” Inhofe said in a statement shortly after Trump vetoed the bill.

The bill, which includes military pay raises, hazard pay and health benefits for soldiers, has successfully cleared Congress for the past 59 years.

Lawmakers’ plans to override Trump’s defense bill veto next week will be the first time Trump is overruled by Congress. If Trump vetoes the combined pandemic relief and spending bill, that could be the second. Trump has rejected several bills during his tenure, but Congress has yet to successfully override any of his vetoes.

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