WASHINGTON, D.C. - Iowa Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley is predicting that Congress will override President Trump if he vetoes the annual defense authorization bill.
The President has said numerous times he'd veto the bill over objections to renaming U.S. military bases honoring Confederate commanders.
“I will Veto the Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren (of all people!) Amendment, which will lead to the renaming (plus other bad things!) of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases from which we won Two World Wars, is in the Bill!”, read a tweet from President Trump last week.
Grassley says he believes Congress will probably override the presidential veto, but hopes it doesn't come to that.
Overriding a presidential veto requires support from two-thirds of the Senate and House.
So far, only the Senate Armed Services Committee has approved the amendment Trump objects to. Both Grassley and Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst sit on the committee, and both supported the overall defense bill with the amendment. Ernst told CNN Sunday that she hopes the President would sign the defense bill and move on.
Grassley says lawmakers could also consider the issue of renaming bases separately from the full defense bill.
The amendment was offered by Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, and would call for the Pentagon to remove names, monuments and paraphernalia honoring the Confederacy from military bases over the next three years.
The overall legislation in question is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorizes $740 billion to pay for military spending in the coming fiscal year, which begins in October. It's one of the few bill that passes Congress reliably each year.