The House was moving toward passage of a $601.4 billion defense authorization bill Thursday, brushing aside a veto threat that targeted 10 separate provisions.

The White House lodged veto threats against provisions ranging from a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq to an attempt to nullify President Bush’s executive order directing agencies to ignore “earmarks,” or lawmakers’ projects, unless they are spelled out in bill texts.

Other provisions that drew White House fire included ones to block the shuttering of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., unless the secretary of Defense meets certain conditions, impose new limits on interrogation of detainees in the war on terror, and ban until Oct. 1, 2011, any public-private competitions to outsource jobs performed by Defense Department civilians.

“The administration strongly opposes any provision that would set an arbitrary date for beginning the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq without regard to conditions on the ground or the recommendations of commanders. Precipitous withdrawal from Iraq would not bring peace to the region or make our people safer here at home,” the White House’s statement said.