Arizona Sen. John McCain says President Obama made history “for all the wrong reasons” Thursday after following through on his threat to veto legislation authorizing Defense Department programs over the next year.
In a scathing op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, the notoriously hawkish Republican senator accused the president of “playing politics with national defense” and “taking down the military’s welfare” by blocking the National Defense Authorization Act.
“Before Thursday, such bills had been vetoed by only four past presidents — in 1978, 1988, 1995 and 2007,” McCain noted in his reaction piece published Thursday evening. “In each case, the president objected to an actual provision in the bill, and each time Congress’s Armed Services committees were able to find a compromise that earned the presidential signature.”
Obama, however, told members of the press Thursday that he vetoed the bill because he thought it fell “woefully short” since it included existing budget cuts and prevented him from closing Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, which he’s repeatedly promised to accomplish by the end of his second term.
“In vetoing this legislation, President Obama has made history, but for all the wrong reasons,” McCain wrote. “He has become the first commander in chief willing to sacrifice national security by vetoing a bill that authorizes pay, benefits and training for U.S. troops, simply because he seeks leverage to pursue his domestic political agenda.”
“It is reckless, cynical and downright dangerous for the president to veto the NDAA, denying the American military the authorizations it desperately needs,” he wrote.
“In vetoing this bill, the president imposes more harm and uncertainty on the military at a time when America faces dangerous and complex threats from around the world … Perhaps most disturbingly, the president’s veto has sent a message to America’s enemies and allies alike that he is more concerned about funding broken Washington bureaucracies than he is about maintaining the nation’s distinction for being defended by the world’s greatest fighting force.”
“President Obama is picking the wrong fight when it comes to the defense budget, and he is using Americans who are willing to serve in harm’s way as bargaining chips in a battle he cannot win,” he added.
McCain has urged Congress to override Obama’s veto and “put the best interests of U.S. troops and national security ahead of politics.”
