veto (United States)

veto (United States)
Name	Veto (United States)
Caption	Seal associated with the President of the United States
Incumbentsince	Established 1789
Formation	United States Constitution, Article I

veto (United States) is the constitutional power of the President of the United States to refuse approval of legislation passed by the United States Congress and thereby prevent its enactment into law, subject to override by a two-thirds vote in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. The veto has played a central role in the balance of powers among the Federal government of the United States, shaping debates involving presidents such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. Its application intersects with landmark statutes, constitutional amendments, judicial review by the Supreme Court of the United States, and high-profile disputes involving the Department of Justice, Congressional Budget Office, and federal agencies.

History

The framers at the Constitutional Convention (1787) debated executive veto proposals alongside designs from figures like James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin; the compromise resulted in the present form recorded in the United States Constitution. Early presidential practice under George Washington and John Adams established precedents, while controversies during the administrations of Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Grover Cleveland expanded norms. The 19th century saw clashes involving legislation related to Nullification Crisis, Bank of the United States, and wartime measures in the American Civil War. In the 20th century, presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin D. Roosevelt used vetoes to shape policy on trusts, the New Deal, and wartime powers, prompting litigation reaching the United States Supreme Court and involvement of the United States Solicitor General. Modern practice evolved through interactions with Congressional Research Service analysis, rulings in cases like those adjudicated by justices such as Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., William Howard Taft, John Marshall Harlan II, and recent jurists including Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Neil Gorsuch.

Types of Vetoes

The constitutional text contemplates the regular presidential veto over enrolled bills returned to the originating chamber, often termed the "regular veto," used by presidents including Herbert Hoover and Harry S. Truman. The pocket veto, invoked by presidents such as Donald Trump and Barack Obama, occurs when Congress adjourns and the president takes no action, as tested in disputes involving the Postmaster General and challenged in courts like the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Line-item veto proposals, supported by legislators like Robert Taft and opposed by presidents including Bill Clinton, led to the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 and a subsequent decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Clinton v. City of New York. Threatened or threatened-public vetoes, pocket-veto litigation, and implicit veto signaling by administrations managed by chiefs of staff such as H.R. Haldeman and Rahm Emanuel form additional practice categories.

Constitutional and Legal Basis

Article I, Section 7 of the United States Constitution provides the textual foundation and has been interpreted through opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel in the United States Department of Justice, scholarly commentary by legal thinkers like Theodore Belknap and judges including Benjamin N. Cardozo, and litigation culminating before the Supreme Court of the United States. Key cases shaping doctrine include Clinton v. City of New York, decisions addressing the pocket veto in cases argued before justices such as William Rehnquist, and opinions engaging institutions like the National Archives and Records Administration for enrolled bills. Constitutional scholars such as Akhil Reed Amar, Bruce Ackerman, Cass Sunstein, and Lawrence Tribe have analyzed separation of powers implications alongside historical materials from the Federalist Papers authored by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.

Procedure and Congressional Response

When a bill reaches the President of the United States, the president may sign it, veto it with a returned message to the originating chamber, or allow it to become law without signature; in the latter case, timing rules interact with adjournment actions by the United States House of Representatives or United States Senate to create pocket veto opportunities. Congress may respond by attempting an override, requiring two-thirds majorities in both chambers—votes coordinated by leaders such as Speaker of the House figures like Tip O'Neill, Newt Gingrich, Nancy Pelosi, and majority leaders including Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid. Procedural tactics involve committees such as the House Committee on Rules and Senate Committee on the Judiciary, parliamentary maneuvers under the United States Senate's cloture rules, and staff work by the Congressional Budget Office and Government Accountability Office. High-profile override attempts involve coalitions led by politicians like Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Lamar Alexander, and John McCain.

Political Impact and Usage Patterns

Presidential vetoes have been used as policy tools by administrations to affect legislation on issues ranging from tariff policy in the era of Alexander Hamilton to civil rights statutes in the epochs of Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, social welfare debates under Franklin D. Roosevelt and Bill Clinton, and national security measures during the terms of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Scholarly analyses by institutions such as the Brookings Institution, Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, and academics like Bruce Miroff and George C. Edwards III document partisan patterns, veto bargaining described in works by Keith Krehbiel and William N. Eskridge Jr., and historical datasets compiled by the American Political Science Association. The threat of a veto influences negotiations involving interest groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, Chamber of Commerce, and unions such as the AFL-CIO, and affects appointments and executive orders administered by agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and Environmental Protection Agency.

Notable Vetoes and Legal Challenges

Famous vetoes include those by Andrew Jackson over the Second Bank of the United States, Abraham Lincoln related to wartime measures, Grover Cleveland regarding pension bills, Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal, Harry S. Truman on labor strikes, Dwight D. Eisenhower on civil rights proposals, Lyndon B. Johnson on defense appropriations, Richard Nixon on environmental legislation, Ronald Reagan on budget measures, Bill Clinton on budget and social policy including the Line Item Veto Act challenge, George W. Bush on surveillance statutes, Barack Obama on foreign policy restrictions, and Donald Trump on various appropriations. Legal challenges have been brought in courts such as the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and ultimately the Supreme Court of the United States in cases like Clinton v. City of New York and contested pocket veto suits, often involving litigants represented before the Solicitor General of the United States.

Category:United States constitutional law