Biden issues veto threats on GOP-backed spending bills
Haisten Willis
Video Embed
President Joe Biden has promised to veto two spending bills coming up for a vote this week.
Biden released a statement of administration policy on two different bills over a host of issues, including many culture war battles such as abortion policy, “gender affirming care,” and a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes.
BIDEN BETS ON ‘ECONOMY GOOD, REPUBLICANS BAD’ REELECTION MESSAGE
The SAPs cover the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act and the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
The president promised to veto both should they reach his desk.
“The draft bills include numerous new, partisan policy provisions with devastating consequences including harming access to reproductive healthcare, threatening the health and safety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Americans, endangering marriage equality, hindering critical climate change initiatives, and preventing the Administration from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the SAP reads.
Specifically, the military spending bill would make it harder for women in the military to seek abortions if they’re stationed in a state with restrictive laws, and also prevent Veterans Affairs funds from being used to provide hormone therapies or surgical procedures for gender transitions.
The administration also says parts of the bill would “undermine same sex marriage” and cut funding for climate change initiatives.
Regarding the latter bill, Biden’s veto threat says it would cut food stamp programs and threaten the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of an over-the-counter abortion pill to be distributed through the mail.
But the Biden administration also objects to provisions that would prevent it from banning menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, as well as standards that would cut the amount of nicotine allowed in cigarettes.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Lawmakers will vote on the two bills this week.
They are the first of 12 appropriations bills the House will need to get through before the government runs out of funding on Oct. 1.