"The presidential power to veto
legislation is one I take seriously," Obama said in a brief notice
delivered to the Senate. "But I also take seriously my responsibility to
the American people."
Obama
vetoed the bill in private with no fanfare, in contrast to the televised
ceremony Republican leaders staged earlier this month when they signed
the bill and sent it to the president. House Speaker John Boehner,
R-Ohio, said Republicans were "not even close" to giving up the fight
and derided the veto as a "national embarrassment."
The
move sends the politically charged issue back to Congress, where
Republicans haven't shown they can muster the two-thirds majority in
both chambers needed to override Obama's veto. North Dakota Sen. John
Hoeven, the bill's chief GOP sponsor, said Republicans are about four
votes short in the Senate and need about 11 more in the House.
Although
the veto is Obama's first since Republicans took control on Capitol
Hill, it was not likely to be the last. GOP lawmakers are lining up
legislation rolling back Obama's actions on health care, immigration and
financial regulation that Obama has promised to similarly reject.
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