Congress voted to override a presidential veto for the first time during President Bush’s seven years in office. The Senate voted 79-14 yesterday to enact the $23 billion water resources bill, easily securing the two-thirds majority needed to overcome the veto. The House voted in favor of the bill on Tuesday with a vote of 361-53.
White House press secretary Dana Perino claimed the president was trying to protect taxpayers from a big-spending congress.
34 Senate Republicans defied the president, voting in favor of the bill, which funds hundreds of Army Corps of Engineer projects, including dams, sewage plants and beach restoration. Congressional representatives had strong support from their local communities for the bill, which included money for restoration efforts for hurricane-affected areas of the Gulf Coast and the Florida Everglades.
The last veto override occurred in February 1998 – the second of two suffered by President Clinton during his administration.
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