Veto is a Latin word which means I forbid. In American government, the word veto usually refers to the president’s power to return a bill to Congress that the legislative branch has already passed.
The president of the United States has a limited veto power. It is not absolute. A vote of a two-thirds majority of the members present in each house of Congress can override a presidential veto. The sovereign of the United Kingdom still holds the power of absolute veto. But no British king or queen has used this power since 1707.
Vetoing a bill.
When the two houses of Congress pass a bill or joint resolution, it is sent to the president. Then one of four things must happen:
(1) The president may approve the bill. If so, the president signs it and it becomes law.
(2) The president may allow the bill to become law without signing it. This can take place under the clause in the Constitution which provides that “if any bill shall not be returned by the president within 10 days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.”
(3) The president may retain the bill, expecting that Congress will adjourn within 10 days–not including Sundays–and thus the bill will be defeated. This method, called the pocket veto, is used by presidents who oppose a bill but do not want to veto it openly.
(4) The president may veto the bill. In that case, the president must send a message to Congress stating the reasons. Vetoing a bill defeats all parts of it. All provisions and “riders” attached to the bill are vetoed.
Line-item veto.
In 1996, Congress approved a law that gave the president a line-item veto. In the line-item veto, the president could veto individual items in spending bills without vetoing the whole bill. To override the president’s line-item veto, Congress first had to pass a bill against it. If the president vetoed that bill and Congress overrode that bill’s veto, the item in the spending bill took effect. In 1998, however, the Supreme Court ruled in Clinton v. City of New York that the law was unconstitutional. Nevertheless, many members of government continue to support the idea of the line-item veto.
Presidents’ use of the veto.
When the Constitution was adopted, Alexander Hamilton declared that presidents would veto bills only with great caution. Several presidents did not veto any bills. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served as president longer than any other person, vetoed the most bills. He used 372 regular vetoes and 263 pocket vetoes. Grover Cleveland ranks second, with 346 regular vetoes and 238 pocket vetoes.
Congress has overridden only about 4 percent of all presidential vetoes of bills. Some of the presidents who vetoed bills had no vetoes overridden by Congress. Congress reversed only 9 of Roosevelt’s 372 regular vetoes and only 2 of the 36 issued by Dwight D. Eisenhower. But it overrode 15 of Andrew Johnson’s 21 regular vetoes. Presidential veto power serves as a major check on Congress (see Checks and balances ).
The line-item veto was used, by President Bill Clinton, to kill 82 spending items in 11 laws. Congress restored 38 of those items by overriding some of Clinton’s vetoes. Clinton v. City of New York restored the rest of the 82 items.
Governors’ veto power.
All state governors have a power to veto bills. But in some states, the governor’s veto may be overridden by a simple majority of the members present in the houses of the legislature, rather than by a required two-thirds majority. Most governors also can veto parts of spending bills.
See also President of the United States (Legislative leader) ; United Nations (Voting) ; Washington, George (First veto) .
