Mac Thornberry on House floor

WASHINGTON: The top Republican lawmaker on the House Armed Services Committee said today he expects widespread support among his party on a crucial vote tomorrow to pass the 2021 NDAA, despite the president’s threats to veto the bill.  

Rep. Mac Thornberry told reporters the “message has been conveyed to the White House” that Congress would likely override the veto if the president rejects the bill. The House is set to vote on the bill on Tuesday, and “the stronger tomorrow’s vote, the less likely we will have to deal with a veto,” said Thornberry.

Hours later, the committee chairman, Rep. Adam Smith, stated flatly: “if the president vetoes it, we will come back and vote to override” it.

Thornberry, a highly respected Texas Republican, who is retiring from Congress next month after 26 years, also rejected one of the president’s stated reasons for threatening a veto: the lack of a provision in the defense bill to repeal a non-defense related law. The president has railed against Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which provides protection for internet providers and social media companies against being held liable for what users post on their sites. 

“Section 230 needs to be addressed,” Thornberry said, “but in a different place, and in a different way – doing it on the defense bill, airdropping it at the last minute is not the right thing.”

Any further delay in the bill would stop pay raises for active-duty troops, curtail military construction projects, and further push back the start of new programs the Pentagon wants to begin working on. 

“Most of my colleagues think this is not the place or the way to address that issue. I mentioned before you’ve got Republicans and Democrats, House, Senate who think it should be addressed,” he added. “But an airdrop, you know, in the last week or two of the session is not the way.”

Thornberry, who served as HASC chairman when Republicans controlled the House, made his comments during what promised to be his last interaction with reporters before retiring, and voting on the 2021 NDAA which was named after him to honor his influence on bills over the years. 

“I’m hopeful that a strong vote can persuade the White House that there’s a better approach to that issue so you’re not punishing the troops for something that is totally unrelated,” Thornberry said. 

The calls with the two lawmakers a day before the 2021 NDAA is set to go to the House floor for a vote comes as turmoil sweeps the upper reaches of the military. Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller has fired a number of deputies and jettisoned a large swath of the influential Defense Business Board, replacing long time defense experts with political operatives with little to no defense experience but proven loyalty to Trump.

“It doesn’t make sense to me,” Thornberry said, in a rare criticism of the Trump administration from a congressional Republican. “My sense is that a new administration can reverse them as soon as they’re in office, so I don’t know the motive. I’ve tried to talk to the Acting Secretary about it, and I’m still not clear on what’s really going on.”

Miller, a relatively unknown \counterterrorism official, was thrust into the acting secretary role in early November when Trump abruptly fired Mark Esper a week after he lost his bid for re-election.

Smith was more direct about the spate of firings.

“It is really problematic when you take away the professionalism of what the Pentagon does and turn it into a partisan hack operation,” he said.

Of course, Miller’s tenure will only last a few more weeks.

Meanwhile, Biden has yet to name his nominee for Defense Secretary, leading to speculation that early favorite Michele Flournoy might not be the pick. Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin and former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson (a longtime senior DoD official) have been floated as also being in consideration, but Smith today made his pick clear.

“I think Michele Flournoy is hands down the best qualified person for the job,” he said. “That does not mean that she’s the only person that can do a job…but I think Michele Flournoy is uniquely qualified.” Smith, of course, is not a senator.