Unit 4 Post

President Obama Vetos Massive Defense Bill

In October of 2015, President Obama completed the fifth veto of his presidency in rejecting the $612 billion National Defense Authorization Act. Although the bill was expected to be vetoed by the president, it was very much a bipartisan effort in both the House and Senate. Sources suggest that the use of this expressed power reveals that Obama has little issue with provoking the Republicans in Congress, especially during the final stretch of his presidency. 

The background of Obama's opposition to this budget goes in to a larger picture of a battle with Republicans in Congress over federal spending. While the Republicans would prefer to only raise the amount poured in to defense spending, Obama is looking to raise spending in other federal agencies besides just the Pentagon alone. Obama told reporters that the bill falls "woefully short" in key areas, yet he praised the legislation for other components, such as the proposed reform of the 401(k) system. 

This veto has not come without backfire, as many Republicans in Congress were furious after their proposal was denied. Former Speaker of the House John Boehner claimed that the rejection of the bill "left troops in the middle," and Senator John McCain claimed that troops expect, "more from their commander-in-chief." The Republicans in Congress were hopeful of an override vote, however, the majority for the override was not met. 

While I agree that defense spending should be a priority, I do not think that the veto of this bill affects the troops as much as the Republicans in Congress are insinuating. I agree with the decision of the POTUS in the aspect that if more funds are poured in to the military, other federal agencies should receive more money too. If defense spending was raised alone, either taxes would increase or funding for other federal agencies would have to be cut. This would cause controversy and complication, and also bring about the assumption that Obama cares more about defense spending than anything else, contradicting his trend of typical policy agenda. I think that the veto, in the bigger picture, did the Republicans in Congress a favor.

Source: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/barack-obama-vetoes-defense-bill-215074