White House Seeks Deal on Confederate Base Names: Report
Budget

White House Seeks Deal on Confederate Base Names: Report

Lawmakers are hoping to pass the annual defense authorization bill before the end of the year, but a provision that requires the Pentagon to remove the names of Confederate leaders from military bases could earn the legislation a veto from President Trump, who has expressed strong opposition to the idea, despite bipartisan support for the plan in Congress.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) reportedly warned top lawmakers this week that the provision would have to be removed if they want the bill to pass. However, The New York Times reported Thursday that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has “hinted” that Trump would accept the base renaming provision in exchange for a repeal of certain legal protections currently in place for social media companies.

Specifically, Meadows said the White House is looking for a repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which protects the likes of Facebook and Twitter from liability over writings posted by their users.

Democrats say the idea is unlikely to gain traction. “On its face, there’s issues of jurisdiction, lack of clarity on what the White House actually means when it says repeal Sec. 230, and also it’s unclear if congressional Republicans support this,” a Democratic aide told The Hill.

TOP READS FROM THE FISCAL TIMES