COLUMBUS, Ind. — The Indiana Democratic Party said Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana, tweeted false information in which he appears to take credit for legislation benefiting the National Guard that he voted against multiple times.
On Tuesday, Pence tweeted that he was “proud” that former President Donald Trump “signed into law” the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021, which the congressman also suggested in a press release provides funding for a cybersecurity pilot program at Camp Atterbury and the Muscatatuck Urban Training Complex.
Federal records show that Pence voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 on July 21 and against a conference report on the legislation on Dec. 8.
Trump, however, did not sign the bill into law, instead vetoing it on Dec. 23. Five days later, the House voted 322-87 to override the veto, but Pence was the only House Republican from Indiana to vote against overriding the veto, meaning he was voting no again to the bill. Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, R-Indiana, did not cast a vote.
The former president had rejected the bill, saying it failed to limit social media companies he claimed were biased against him during his failed reelection campaign, The Associated Press reported. Trump also opposed language that allows for the renaming of military bases that honor Confederate leaders.
The bill became law on Jan. 1 after the Senate voted 81-13 to override the veto. Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, voted in favor of the veto override, while Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, voted against it, federal records show.
The National Defense Authorization Act authorized $740 billion in military programs and construction and provides a 3% pay raise for U.S. troops, improvements for military housing, among other things. Congress has approved a version of the bill for nearly 60 years in a row.
On Wednesday morning, the Indiana Democratic Party accused Pence of trying to “mislead voters from his actual voting record.”
“Unfortunately, this move by Pence is kind of standard to what he and a lot of other Hoosier Republicans have been doing as of late, which is to ignore facts, ignore truth and trying to spin it in any way to distract voters from their actual records,” Drew Anderson, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party, said.
The Republic contacted Pence’s office, asking to clarify the comments about the 2021 legislation and a press release sent out on Tuesday in which the congressman made similar statements about supporting the National Guard and its programs and the defense bill.
The initial response from Milly Lothian, Pence’s communication director, was to ask for The Republic’s sources. Neither Pence nor his team responded any further.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
