Donald Trump threatens to veto annual defense bill unless Congress abandons bipartisan demand to rename military bases that have Confederate names
President Donald Trump is again threatening to veto legislation to fund the military over a bipartisan provision that will remove the names of Confederates from bases.
NBC News reported Monday that Trump has told Republican lawmakers since the November 3 presidential election that he plans to keep his campaign promise to supporters and veto the National Defense Authorization Act over the provision.
'He's said that,' a senior administration official told NBC News, confirming the conversations.
President Donald Trump has renewed his veto threat over a military funding bill that includes a provision that would change the name of 10 bases named for Confederates
Fort Bragg is among the bases that would be renamed if the bill passes. Since June, Trump has leaned into culture war issues, including wanting to retain Confederate names on bases
Trump leaned in to culture war themes after the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, which reinvigorated the Black Lives Matter movement.
On June 10, he tweeted out a statement and had White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany come out to the podium and read it.
'These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom,' Trump said. 'The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars.'
'Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations,' Trump said.
Black Lives Matter activists have encouraged the removal of Confederate statues and relics, because those southerners tried to keep black people enslaved and fought the Civil War over it.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy had told Politico he was 'open' to renaming the 10 bases named for Confederate figures. Floyd's death and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests, motivated McCarthy's change of heart, one Army official told Politico.
On June 30, Trump made his first veto threat after Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who ran for the 2020 Democratic nomination, inserted the provision to rename the bases into the bill.
It passed with bipartisan consensus, but was a voice vote - meaning there's no record of which Republicans defected from Trump's position.
Trump angrily tweeted about it then.
'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!' Trump wrote.
The bill still passed the House and Senate overwhelmingly.
But now, with a veto threat hanging over it, some of Trump's Republican allies are pushing for the provision to be removed.
Sen. Jim Inhofe, according to The New York Times, told lawmakers last week the requirement would have to be stripped for the bill to get through.
Earlier in the year Inhofe, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, promised Trump privately he would scrap it.
Democrats, for their part, are standing firm in wanting to retain the provision.
Thirty-seven Democratic senators penned a letter to Inhofe and other GOP leaders on November 10.
'Millions of servicemembers of color have lived on, trained at, and deployed from installations named to honor traitors that killed Americans in defense of chattel slavery,' they wrote.
'Renaming these bases does not disrespect our military – it honors the sacrifices and contributions of our servicemembers in a way that better reflects our nation’s diversity and values,' the Democrats argued. 'We know who these bases were named for and why they were named.'
'It is long past the time to correct this longstanding, historic injustice,' they added. 'We must not shrink from our solemn duty in his moment.'
Ex-Defense Secretary Mark Esper was quietly working with Congress to rename the bases.
He was sacked by Trump six days after the election, marking the president's first major firing after his loss.
No comments