Chuck Schumer Just Turned Trump’s NDAA Veto Threat Into A Massive Backfire

Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blasted Trump for threatening to veto a pay raise for the troops.

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Schumer said on the Senate floor:

Yesterday, President Trump issued, over Twitter, a renewed threat on the annual defense bill. Previously, the president threatened to veto this important legislation over a provision to rename military installations named after Confederate traitors. Now, President Trump has issued a veto-threat-by-tweet over a policy concerning social media companies (section 230), which is in neither version of the NDAA already passed by both Houses of Congress!

President Trump must have realized that vetoing a pay raise for our troops in order to defend the honor of confederate traitors wasn’t the best message to send. So he’s found a new complaint.

After four years of ignoring the president’s most vitriolic, conspiracy-fueled, and absurd comments on social media, I wonder if our Republican colleagues will say that they didn’t see this particular tweet.

The truth is section 230 may actually need some reform, but that’s a serious undertaking that should be done in a regular order and can be left for another day. And it is certainly not an acceptable reason to veto the annual defense bill, which includes policies to keep our military prepared, well-resourced, and equipped to do a difficult and vital job.

Nonetheless, it’s silly season at the White House. The president seems intent on filling each of his remaining days in office with petulance, grievance, self-interest.

Trump isn’t threatening to veto the NDAA for any serious policy reasons. The President is mad at Twitter for fact-checking his tweets, but his move is certain to backfire.

Two Senate runoff elections will be happening in Georgia on January 5, 2021. Georgia has the fifth largest active-duty military population in the country.

If Mitch McConnell and the Republican Senate majority stick with Trump on the NDAA veto threat, they could cost themselves two Senate seats next month.

Chuck Schumer wasted no time in turning Trump’s veto threat into a trap that could cost Republicans control of the Senate.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association