WASHINGTON – The White House signaled Thursday that President Obama might not sign a bill to pay death benefits to the families of fallen soldiers, leading a top Republican senator to allege the president has hit a "new low."
The Senate approved the bill Thursday afternoon, after it cleared the House a day earlier. The bill would reinstate the $100,000 "death gratuity" payments to military families, as well as resume funeral and burial expenses -- after funding was suspended as a consequence of the partial government shutdown.
But White House Press Secretary Jay Carney claimed the bill was "not necessary," noting that charity group The Fisher House Foundation had just entered into an agreement with the Pentagon a day earlier to provide the benefits in the short-term.
"The legislation is not necessary," Carney said, adding that the Defense Department has already agreed to reimburse the Fisher House.
"It does mean that we don't need legislation," Carney said, without explicitly saying Obama would reject the bill.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who pushed the bill in the Senate, blasted the White House over the response.
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