Samuel Case, FISM News
On Friday the Senate passed a $740 billion defense bill. The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, passed 84-13. Both houses of Congress passed the bill with a veto-proof majority.
President Trump had threatened to veto the bill if it did not include provisions to remove Section 230 of the Information Communications Decency Act, which protects social media companies from lawsuits over content on their sites. Trump was also considering a veto due to a portion of the bill that would rename ten military bases that hold the names of Confederate leaders.
A vote was originally to be held on Thursday, but was delayed by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul over the price and concerns that it might limit President Trump’s power to bring troops home from Afghanistan and Germany.
.@RandPaul is GOING OFF on the Senate floor in opposition to the NDAA right now:
"These neocons put forth a belief that the commander in chief has virtually unlimited power to initiate war, but they are just fine with…preventing the commander in chief from ending a war."
— Young Americans for Liberty (@YALiberty) December 10, 2020
The AP explains that the NDAA “guides Pentagon policy and cements decisions about troop levels, new weapons systems and military readiness, military personnel policy and other military goals.” And that “Many programs can only go into effect if the bill is approved, including military construction.”
The NDAA has been passed every year since 1967