President Obama is only now facing the first veto override of his presidency because congressional Republican leaders are not good at moving legislation, even bills that Obama opposes, White House spokesman Josh Earnest asserted on Tuesday.
House Speaker Paul Ryan and his predecessor, John Boehner, have not worked closely with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to “pass legislation that advances the conservative agenda,” Earnest said.
“It’s not as if in the last year-and-a-half, you’ve seen Congress pass bills that would cut taxes for American businesses or cut government spending or increase funding for the military or any of the other conservative priorities that they spend a lot of time talking about, but not actually legislating,” Earnest said.
“So the fact that the president hasn’t vetoed that many bills I think is a pretty damning indictment of the effectiveness of Republicans in Congress,” he added.
Lawmakers are poised to void his veto of a bill that would allow relatives of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia.
“But the president has strong views about this legislation and the impact that it would have not just on the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia, but with countries around the world,” he said. “It would increase the risk that is facing our service members and our diplomats and our intelligence professionals.”
Despite those fears, Obama understands the bill’s emotional appeal.
“He’s also aware of how challenging the politics are,” Earnest said before ticking off actions Obama has taken to help the victims’ families and emergency personnel who responded to the World Trade Center attacks.
“So look, the president is able to take the political heat because he’s got this strong track record on this issue,” Earnest said. “It’s the president’s responsibility to consider the broader impact that this bill, as it’s currently written, would have on our national security and our standing around the world.”
