Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.
President Trump has doubled down on his threat to veto the annual defense policy bill with a pair of late-night tweets that called out the Republican Senate Armed Services Committee chairman.
Eyeing China’s rise as a global military and economic power, lawmakers unveiled a compromise defense policy bill Thursday that targets China on multiple fronts, with $6.9 billion prescribed for a new Pacific Deterrence Initiative over two years.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith said he believes President Donald Trump would veto the bill but warned it “would be a huge political mistake.”
Hypertension, bladder cancer, Parkinsonism or hypothyroidism would all be included as presumed conditions caused by Agent Orange exposure under the plan.
Congress is moving ahead with its annual defense policy bill without repealing a prized legal shield for social media companies, testing President Trump’s threat to veto the bill.
House Republicans are backing Rep. Mike Rogers to replace Rep. Mac Thornberry as the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee next Congress, according to a source familiar with the situation.