With 9/11 bill override, Barack Obama's perfect 12 veto record dashed

Washington: The US Senate yesterday voted overwhelmingly to override Barack Obama's veto of a bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, the first such rebuke of his eight-year presidency, ironically in his last few months in the White House.

This frame grab shows the floor of the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington as they voted. Pics/AP

In a landmark 97-1 vote backing the override - only Nevada Democrat Harry Reid voted against it - teeing up a similar vote in the House of Representatives later yesterday.The rare act of bipartisanship is a severe blow to Obama, who lobbied hard against the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). Obama has issued 12 vetoes during his presidency. Until now none have been overridden.

The White House argued the 9/11 bill would undermine the principle of sovereign immunity and open up the United States itself to lawsuits.

In a letter to Republican and Democratic Senate leaders, Obama warned of "devastating" consequences for the Pentagon, service members, diplomats and the intelligence services. "The United States relies on principles of immunity to prevent foreign litigants and foreign courts from second-guessing our counterterrorism operations and other actions that we take every day."

Families of 9/11 victims have campaigned for the law - convinced that the Saudi government had a hand in the attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.