Call Trump's Bluff on Renaming Military Bases
Republicans in Congress should join in defeating the president’s veto threat against a crucial defense bill.
Time for a change.
Photographer: Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images North America
In yet another expression of lame-duck pique, President Donald Trump has threatened to veto the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act over provisions to rename military bases that honor Confederate generals. Trump is apparently calculating that lawmakers will capitulate rather than risk holding up $740 billion in funding for the military. Senate Republicans should prove him wrong.
The push to remove Confederate names from U.S. military bases gained momentum after last summer’s protests for racial justice. In both the House and Senate, bipartisan majorities passed versions of the NDAA that would begin the process of stripping Confederate names from 10 major Army bases — including Fort Benning (Georgia), Fort Bragg (North Carolina) and Fort Hood (Texas) — as well as from ships and streets on military installations. The House version also called for banning the display of the Confederate flag on military bases.