Senate overrides Trump's veto of defense bill

The U.S. Capitol.
(Image credit: Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)

The Senate voted 81-13 on Friday to override President Trump's veto of the $741 billion defense authorization bill.

This is Congress' first veto override of Trump's presidency, which is now in its final days.

Earlier in the week, the House voted to back the legislation. It authorizes pay raises for service members and imposes new limits on how much of the military's construction budget the president can move by emergency order.

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Trump said he vetoed the measure because he did not like how it restricts the president's ability to draw down troop levels, as well as the fact that it directs the Pentagon to strip the names of Confederate figures from U.S. military installations. Trump also wanted the legislation to include a repeal of liability protections for tech companies, a completely unrelated issue.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.