White House issues veto threat of House GOP defense bill

The White House issued a veto threat against the House defense appropriations bill as Congress returns to Washington this week to work on a compromise bill.

The White House on Monday issued a Statement of Administration Policy on the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023, saying that President Biden would veto it if it reached his desk.

The administration “strongly opposes” the House version of the bill, according to the statement. It outlined that when Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) negotiated a debt limit deal in May, the agreement “held spending for non-defense programs roughly flat with [fiscal] 2023 levels, a compromise that protected vital programs Americans rely on from draconian cuts House Republicans proposed.”

This bill, the statement said, cuts domestic spending below the agreement, and the White House accused Republicans of “wasting time with partisan bills.”

The House in July passed its legislation, which sets an $886 billion budget for the nation’s armed forces in fiscal 2024, an amount on par with Biden’s defense spending request. But, it was loaded up with conservative amendments regarding abortion, transgender rights, diversity and inclusion initiatives and other hot-button issues. The White House expressed its opposition to the bill at the time.

The Democrat-controlled Senate then passed its own version of the annual defense bill also with the top-line figure of $886 billion for fiscal 2024.

The House and Senate are now tasked with hammering out a compromise bill.

The deal from May also protected Biden’s top legislative accomplishments, like the Inflation Reduction Act, the PACT Act, the CHIPS and Science Act and the infrastructure law. But, the House defense appropriations bill includes provisions that would repeal parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, according to the statement.

Additionally, the statement mentions its opposition to the House bill’s provisions on reproductive health care, the LGBTQ community and marriage equity, climate change initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.