The President has said he will veto the defense bill because it is bad for national security. I agree with his assessment.

This bill misuses the Overseas Contingency Operation fund to evade the congressionally mandated budget caps and is itself a political game. Defense Secretary Carter has said the funding scheme outlined in this bill fails to provide a stable, multi-year budget on which defense planning is necessarily based.  In his words, it provides a “road to nowhere.” That is not the kind of defense bill our troops need. Signing a bad bill does not make us safer.

We can’t give our troops the tools needed to fight our aggressors using this kind of budgeting gimmick. We must eliminate sequestration and enact a long-term, comprehensive budget deal. 

If passed, the President should veto this bill, and Congress should fix it. That is what is good for national security.