(1789 to Present)
Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution grants the President the authority to
veto legislation passed by Congress. This authority is one of the most significant
tools in the President can employ to prevent the passage of legislation. Even the
threat of a veto can bring about changes in the content of legislation long before
the bill is ever presented to the President. The Constitution provides the President
10 days (excluding Sundays) to act on legislation or the legislation automatically
becomes law. There are two types of vetoes: the “regular veto” and
the “pocket veto.”
The regular veto is a qualified negative veto. The President returns the unsigned
legislation to the originating house of Congress within a 10 day period usually with
a memorandum of disapproval or a “veto message.” Congress can override
the President’s decision if it musters the necessary two–thirds vote of each
house. President George Washington issued the first regular veto on April 5, 1792.
The first successful congressional override occurred on March 3, 1845, when Congress
overrode President John Taylor’s veto of S. 66.
The pocket veto is an absolute veto that cannot be overridden. The veto becomes
effective when the President fails to sign a bill after Congress has adjourned and
is unable to override the veto. The authority of the pocket veto is derived from
the Constitution’s Article 1, Section 7, “the Congress by their adjournment
prevent its return, in which case, it shall not be law.” Over time, Congress
and the President have clashed over the use of the pocket veto, debating the
term “adjournment.” The President has attempted to use the pocket veto
during intra- and inter- session adjournments and Congress has denied this use of
the veto. The Legislative Branch, backed by modern court rulings, asserts that the
Executive Branch may only pocket veto legislation when Congress has adjourned sine
die from a session. President James Madison was the first President to use the
pocket veto in 1812.
|