On December 23, 2020, President Donald Trump followed through on his promise to veto the massive military spending bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), because it contained a measure to rename military bases named after Confederate generals who wanted to keep slavery legal.
However, both the House and Senate overrode his veto on December 28 and January 1, respectively, and now the renaming is getting underway as the Pentagon just named the first four members of its eight-member renaming commission yesterday.
The renaming of bases was part of a measure included in the NDAA by Democratic Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren giving the Department of Defense three years to remove Confederate names, symbols, monuments and other honors from military bases, buildings, streets, ships, aircraft, weapons and equipment, according to Politico.
The committee has until October 2022 to submit a plan for which things should be renamed and possibly alternative names created with input from local communities.
On July 1, 2020, Trump wrote, “I will Veto the Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren (of all people!) Amendment, which will lead to the renaming (plus other bad things!) of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases from which we won Two World Wars, is in the Bill!”
Considering how many of Trump’s supporters waved Confederate flags at his pre-riot rally and while ransacking the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, it explains why he strongly opposes removing the names of traitorous Confederate military leaders who fought against the federal government and spilled American blood for the “right” to own, rape, torture and kill Black slaves.
By vetoing the bill, Trump also denied a pay raise for troops, prevented funding for female-specific uniforms and body armor, and ended “funding to support quality of life for service members and their families, including measures this year to support education for military children with special needs whose families have to frequently change school districts,” according to NBC News.
Members of Trump’s own party united with Democrats to stop him from doing that and now the Confederate legacy will be erased from the U.S. military.