Obama’s First Veto Threat Framed as Message on Spending

• By Keith Koffler
• Roll Call Staff
• June 26, 2009, 3:30 p.m.

President Barack Obama’s threatened veto of the House Defense authorization bill is both a signal of his desire to revamp defense priorities and a message that he wants to force Congress to make difficult decisions on spending, according to White House officials. The warning is the first formal veto threat of Obama’s presidency.