WASHINGTON (AP) – Setting up a potential override by Congress, President Barack Obama vetoed a bill Friday that would have allowed the families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia.
Obama cited the potential for the popular bipartisan bill to backfire against the U.S., its diplomats and military personnel.
The bill sailed through both chambers of Congress by voice vote, with final House passage coming just two days before Obama led the nation in marking the 15th anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.
Congress was expected to move rapidly to try to override the veto, which requires a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate. A successful override would be the first of Obama’s presidency. With lawmakers eager to return home to campaign ahead of the November election, a vote could come as early as Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office said the Senate would take up the override “as soon as practicable in this work period.”