Presidential Vetoes of Annual Defense Authorization Bills (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Oct. 1, 2015 |
| Report Number |
IN10368 |
| Report Type |
Insight |
| Authors |
Towell, Pat |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter is recommending that President Obama veto the conference report on H.R. 1735, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY2016, Carter told reporters on September 30, 2015. If Obama were to veto the measure, it would mark the fifth time since 1961, when Congress enacted the first annual defense authorization bill, that a president has vetoed that measure. Prior to 1986, when military construction projects were authorized in separate legislation, an annual military construction bill was vetoed by President Johnson in 1965 and by President Ford in 1976. In each of those six cases, after the veto of an initial bill, Congress passed--and the President signed into law--a new bill, essentially identical to the vetoed legislation except for the elimination of provisions to which the President had objected. Carter, and other Administration officials, object to the fact that H.R. 1735 would circumvent the defense spending cap set by the Budget Control Act of 2011 by including in the authorization for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) authorization for appropriation of $38 billion intended to cover costs in DOD's so-called 'base budget.'
