7/1/20
President Trump is escalating his fight with Congress over a broad, bipartisan effort to rename military installations that are named for figures from the Confederacy, threatening to veto an annual defense bill if it includes the provision. The Senate is currently debating the National Defense Authorization Act, which already includes the provision backed by most members of the Senate panel. Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers is looking to add the change as part of ongoing negotiations for its version of the defense legislation. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Trump's threat "typical bluster," and assured his colleagues the defense bill will still pass with the directive intact. Trump made the threat just hours after Schumer dared him to take such a step as a result of the Confederacy naming issue.
The amendment would create a commission charged with issuing recommendations for renaming Army installations that bear Confederate names. The Pentagon would have three years to install the changes, including the removal of other Confederate names and symbols from ships, aircraft, streets and other Defense Department property. "It is time to put the names of those leaders who fought and killed U.S. soldiers in defense of a perverted version of America where they belong, as footnotes in our history books, not plastered on our nation's most significant military installations," said Senator Elizabeth Warren, sponsor of the Senate bill.
