GOP defense budget’s abortion, diversity limits draw Biden veto threat
By Leo Shane III and Bryant Harris
Sep 11, 05:02 PM
President Joe Biden has threatened to veto House Republicans' plans for the fiscal 2024 Defense Department budget over social issues included in the spending package. (Patrick Semansky/AP)
President Joe Biden on Monday threatened to veto House Republicans’ plans to fund the Defense Department for 2024 because of its provisions that would dramatically limit reproductive care options and military diversity training.
The White House statement comes just a few days before House members are scheduled to vote on the $826 billion Defense Department budget plan for fiscal 2024. Chamber Democrats have already voiced strong objections to the package, but Republicans hold the majority in the chamber. Senate Democrats have also denounced the proposed measures, and any final bill would have to be passed by their chamber as well, where they hold the majority.
If the bill somehow did reach the president’s desk in its current form, White House officials said Monday that they’d recommend vetoing it because of “numerous new, partisan policy provisions with devastating consequences including harming access to reproductive healthcare, threatening the health and safety of LGBTQ+ Americans” as well as preventing the administration “from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2023/09/11/gop-defense-budgets-abortion-diversity-limits-draw-biden-veto-threat/
