Oops. Presidential Veto.
October 22, 2015
By Joe Gould
Washington — President Obama vetoed (click here) the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act in the Oval Office on Thursday, a rebuke to Republicans over the way they have funded defense.
The president and Democrats have opposed the 2016 NDAA because it supports a $38 billion plus-up to defense through a wartime account known as Overseas Contingency Operations (or OCO), which skirts Budget Control Act caps. Meanwhile, Republicans claim a veto would not only send the wrong message at a time when the US faces multiple national security dilemmas, but that it endangers the bill’s policy provisions, particularly those aimed at acquisition reform.
As the 2016 NDAA’s proponents like to note, the bill does not appropriate funding, but sets policy, creating authorization to spend on a wide range of acquisition programs across the services. The bill also contains measures authorizing lethal aid to Ukraine, banning torture, reform troop pay and benefits — and limiting the President’s ability to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp....
October 22, 2015
By Joe Gould
Washington — President Obama vetoed (click here) the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act in the Oval Office on Thursday, a rebuke to Republicans over the way they have funded defense.
The president and Democrats have opposed the 2016 NDAA because it supports a $38 billion plus-up to defense through a wartime account known as Overseas Contingency Operations (or OCO), which skirts Budget Control Act caps. Meanwhile, Republicans claim a veto would not only send the wrong message at a time when the US faces multiple national security dilemmas, but that it endangers the bill’s policy provisions, particularly those aimed at acquisition reform.
As the 2016 NDAA’s proponents like to note, the bill does not appropriate funding, but sets policy, creating authorization to spend on a wide range of acquisition programs across the services. The bill also contains measures authorizing lethal aid to Ukraine, banning torture, reform troop pay and benefits — and limiting the President’s ability to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp....
