White House threatens veto of Republican defense spending proposal

The White House on Monday announced its opposition to a proposed defense appropriations bill backed by Republicans and threatened to veto the legislation should it reach President Joe Biden's desk.

"If the President were presented with H.R. 4365, he would veto it," the White House stated.

"House Republicans had an opportunity to engage in a productive, bipartisan appropriations process, but instead, with less than a month before the end of the fiscal year, are wasting time with partisan bills that cut domestic spending to levels well below the [Fiscal Responsibility Act] agreement and endanger critical services for the American people," the White House stated. 

In particular, the White House took exception to a litany of provisions that would curtail existing social policies within the military, as well as its policy of providing paid leave for servicemembers to obtain abortions.

"The draft bills also 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 statement continued.

The bill comes amid an anticipated spending battle over supplemental spending in the wake of Congress's negotiation of the FRA earlier this year.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.