[House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House]
[Veto of Bills]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
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VETO OF BILLS
Sec. 1. In General; Veto Messages
Sec. 2. House Action on Vetoed Bills
Sec. 3. -- Consideration as Privileged
Sec. 4. -- Motions in Order
Sec. 5. -- Debate
Sec. 6. -- Voting; Disposition of Bill
Sec. 7. Pocket Vetoes
Research References
4 Hinds Secs. 3520-3552
7 Cannon Secs. 1094-1115
7 Deschler Ch 24 Secs. 17-23
U.S. Const. art. I Sec. 7
Manual Secs. 104, 107-109, 112-114
Sec. 1 . In General; Veto Messages
Generally
The authority for the President to disapprove--veto--a bill is
spelled out in the Constitution, U.S. Const. art. I Sec. 7 clause 2.
The same clause addresses the process by which the Congress can
override a veto.
Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives
and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the
President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but
if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House in
which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at
large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such
reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the
Bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other
House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved
by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law. . . . If any
bill shall not be returned by the President within ten 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.
The President has a 10-day period in which to approve or
disapprove a bill. He can sign the bill into law or he can return it
to the House of its origination with a message detailing why he
chooses not to sign. If he fails to give his approval by affixing his
signature during that period, the bill will become law automatically,
without his signature. However, if before
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the end of that 10-day period the Congress adjourns sine die and
thereby prevents the return of the bill, the bill does not become law
if the President has taken no action (i.e., approval) regarding it. At
this stage, the bill can become a law only if the President signs it.
The President's failure to act under these circumstances is referred
to as a ``pocket'' veto. Deschler Ch 24 Sec. 17. Pocket vetoes, see
Sec. 7, infra.
The 10-day period given the President under the Constitution in
which to approve or reject a bill may be considered as beginning at
midnight on the day on which the bill is presented to him. The day on
which the bill is presented to the President is not counted in the
computation (Deschler Ch 24 Sec. 17.1) nor are Sundays.
Under the usual practice, bills are considered to have been
``presented to the President'' at the time they are delivered to the
White House. But bills have been delivered to the White House while
the President was abroad and effectively held by the White House for
presentation to the President upon his return to the United States.
Manual Sec. 105.
Where the President exercises his veto authority he returns the
enrollment with a sealed message setting forth his objections. An
enrolled House bill returned to the Clerk during a recess with a
``memorandum of disapproval'' setting forth the objections of the
President has been treated by the House as a return veto. 102-1, Sept.
11, 1991, p ____.
Sec. 2 . House Action on Vetoed Bills
Veto messages are laid before the House on the day received by the
Speaker. They are then read and entered in the Journal. 89-1, Sept.
13, 1965, p 23623; 91-2, Aug. 11, 1970, pp 28170-72.
A veto message of a House bill having been laid down and read, the
Speaker first announces:
The objections of the President will be spread at large upon the
Journal and the message and bill will be printed as a House
document.
If the House does not wish to proceed immediately to reconsider
the bill, the motions to lay on the table, to postpone consideration
or to refer are available at this point in the proceedings. See
Sec. 4, infra.
When the message is laid before the House, the question on passage
is considered as pending--so that no motion from the floor to
reconsider the bill is necessary. 7 Cannon Secs. 1097-1099. However,
the previous question cannot be moved on reconsideration until the
question is stated by the Chair. If the House wishes to proceed to the
consideration of the message and address the question of passing the
bill over the President's veto, it can
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defeat any preferential motion which is offered and proceed to the
main issue.
If no preferential motions are offered, the Chair then states the
question as follows:
The pending question is whether the House will, on
reconsideration, pass the bill, the objections of the President to
the contrary notwithstanding.
Sec. 3 . -- Consideration as Privileged
The consideration of a veto message from the President is a matter
of high privilege, and may interrupt consideration of other business
(such as a conference report) if the previous question has not been
ordered. 95-2, Oct. 5, 1978, p 33704. Though its consideration may be
postponed to a day certain, it remains highly privileged and becomes
the unfinished business on that day. 91-2, Jan. 27, 1970, p 1365. A
vetoed bill may be laid on the table (7 Cannon Sec. 1105), but it is
still highly privileged and a motion to take it from the table is in
order at any time (4 Hinds Sec. 3550; 5 Hinds Sec. 5439). A vetoed
bill received in the House by way of the Senate is considered as if
received directly from the President and supersedes the regular order
of business. 4 Hinds Sec. 3537; 7 Cannon Sec. 1109. The privilege
accorded vetoed bills does not extend to a bill reported in lieu of a
vetoed bill. 4 Hinds Sec. 3531; 7 Cannon Sec. 1103.
Though highly privileged, the consideration of a vetoed bill
yields to:
A timely demand for a quorum. 4 Hinds Sec. 3522; 7 Cannon
Sec. 1094.
Unfinished business from the preceding day with the previous
question ordered. 8 Cannon Sec. 2693.
A matter being considered as a question privileged under the
Constitution, such as a contested election. 5 Hinds Sec. 6642.
A motion to adjourn. 4 Hinds Sec. 3523.
Sec. 4 . -- Motions in Order
Generally
The constitutional mandate that ``the House shall proceed to
reconsider'' a vetoed bill (U.S. Const. art. I Sec. 7) means that the
House shall proceed to consider it under the rules of the House, and
that the ordinary motions under the House rules are in order. Manual
Sec. 108. The motions to lay the bill on the table, to postpone to a
day certain, and to refer are in order; and they take precedence in
the order named over the question of reconsideration (and possible
override) of the bill until the previous question is ordered. A Member
may not invoke the previous question on the question of
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reconsideration as preferential where the Chair has not yet stated the
question to be pending on overriding the veto. 95-2, June 28, 1978, p
19332. See also 7 Cannon Sec. 1105.
Postponement
While the House usually takes immediate action on a veto message
from the President, the consideration of the message may be postponed
to a day certain by unanimous consent or by motion. 91-2, Jan. 27,
1970, p 1365; 94-1, Dec. 19, 1975, p 41880; 95-2, June 21, 1978, p
18311. The postponement may be for a few days (86-2, Feb. 23, 1960, p
3257) but has been for as long as eight months and into the next
session of the same Congress (99-1, Dec. 17, 1985, p 37477). A Member
moving to postpone further consideration of a veto message to a day
certain is recognized to control one hour of debate on the motion. 91-
2, Jan. 27, 1970, p 1365. Such a postponement is not in violation of
the constitutional requirement that the House ``shall proceed to
reconsider'' a vetoed bill. 100-2, Aug. 3, 1988, p 20278.
When consideration of a veto message is postponed to a day
certain, it becomes unfinished business on that day, and may be voted
on, referred to committee, or again postponed as the House determines.
98-1, Oct. 20, 1983, p 28618.
Referral to Committee
A veto message from the President may be referred to a committee
by unanimous consent (89-1, Sept. 13, 1965, p 23623) or by motion (89-
2, Oct. 11, 1966, p 26051; 90-1, Dec. 11, 1967, p 35754). Such a
referral is in order in the House on a bill that the Senate has
already passed over the President's veto. 94-2, Jan. 26, 1976, pp 374,
875.
A motion to refer a veto message to committee takes precedence
over the question of reconsideration. 99-1, Mar. 7, 1985, p 4955; 98-
1, Oct. 25, 1983, p 29188. But while the ordinary motion to refer may
be applied to a vetoed bill, the motion is not in order pending the
demand for the previous question or after it is ordered on the
constitutional question of reconsideration. 7 Cannon Sec. 1102.
Discharge of Committee
A motion to discharge a committee from the consideration of a
vetoed bill is privileged (4 Hinds Sec. 3532), under the modern
practice can be debated under the hour rule (101-2, Mar. 7, 1990, p
3620) and is renewable every day, notwithstanding the tabling of a
prior motion. 100-2, Aug. 10, 1988,
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p 21589. When the motion to discharge is agreed to, the veto message
is pending as unfinished business. Manual Sec. 108.
Sec. 5 . -- Debate
Debate on the question of overriding the President's veto of a
bill is under the hour rule. 91-2, Jan. 28, 1970, pp 1483, 1552; 91-2,
June 25, 1970, pp 21529-32; 91-2, Aug. 13, 1970, pp 28758, 28779. The
previous question may be moved at any time during the debate. 7
Deschler Ch 24 Sec. 22. The Speaker normally recognizes the chairman
of the committee or subcommittee which reported the bill to control
the debate on the veto message. Compare 92-2, Aug. 16, 1972, p 28415.
Sec. 6 . -- Voting; Disposition of Bill
Under the Constitution, a vetoed bill becomes law when it is
reconsidered and passed by the requisite two-thirds vote in each
House. U.S. Const. art. I Sec. 7. The two-thirds vote required to pass
the bill is two-thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being present,
and not two-thirds of the total membership of the House. 4 Hinds
Secs. 3537, 3538; 7 Cannon Sec. 1111. The Constitution further
requires that the vote on passage of a bill over the President's veto
must be by the yeas and nays. 86-1, Sept. 10, 1959, p 18982; 86-2,
July 1, 1960, pp 14451, 15183.
The motion to reconsider is not in order on the vote on the
question of overriding a veto. 5 Hinds Sec. 5644; 8 Cannon Sec. 2778.
When a vetoed House bill is reconsidered and passed in the House,
the House sends the bill and veto message to the Senate and informs
that body that it passed by the constitutional two-thirds vote. See
86-2, July 1, 1960, p 15343; 91-2, June 25, 1970, pp 21529-32. When
the House fails to pass a bill over the President's veto, the bill and
veto message are referred to committee, and the Senate is informed of
the action of the House. 7 Deschler Ch 24 Sec. 23.
Sec. 7 . Pocket Vetoes
Generally; Use After Final Adjournment
Under the Constitution, if the President neither signs nor returns
a bill within 10 days (Sundays excepted) it becomes law as if he had
signed it, unless Congress by its adjournment ``prevents its return.''
U.S. Const. art. I Sec. 7. The President is said to ``pocket veto'' a
bill where he takes no action on the bill during the 10-day period and
where the Congress adjourns before the expiration of that time in such
a manner as to prevent the return of the
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bill to the originating House. 7 Deschler Ch 24 Sec. 18. If Congress,
at the end of a two-year term, adjourns sine die within the 10-day
period, the return of the bill is prevented within the meaning of this
provision of the Constitution; therefore, if the President does not
sign it, the bill does not become law but dies as a result of the
President's pocket veto. The Pocket Veto Case, 279 US 655 (1929),
dicta at p 680. Manual Sec. 112. A constitutional debate still lingers
with respect to the conditions under which the President may exercise
his pocket veto authority during certain types of adjournment of a
Congress. The executive and legislative branches have sometimes held
different perspectives with respect to the conditions surrounding an
adjournment and their impact on the return of a bill disapproved by
the President.
During Intersession Adjournments
The Supreme Court has held that the President's return of a bill
to the originating House was prevented when the Congress adjourned its
first session sine die fewer than 10 days after presenting the bill to
him for his approval. Because neither House was in session to receive
the bill, the President was prevented from returning it, and a pocket
veto was upheld. The Pocket Veto Case, 279 US 655 (1929). A more
recent appellate court decision suggested that the return of a bill
during an adjournment between sessions was not prevented within the
meaning of the Constitution if the originating House has appointed an
agent for the receipt of Presidential veto messages, and that the
validity of a pocket veto is governed not by the type or length of
adjournment but whether the conditions surrounding the adjournment
raise an impediment to the actual return of the bill. Barnes v Kline,
759 F2d 21 (D.C. Cir. 1985), vacated as moot by the Supreme Court in
Burke v Barnes, 479 US 361 (1987). In 1989, as part of the concurrent
resolution providing for the sine die adjournment of the first
session, the Congress affirmed its position that an intersession
adjournment does not prevent the return of a bill where the Clerk and
the Secretary of the Senate are authorized to receive messages during
the adjournment. H. Con. Res. 239, 101-1, Nov. 21, 1989, p ____. When
the second session of the 101st Congress convened, the House asserted
its right to reconsider a bill returned with a Presidential
``memorandum of disapproval'' received during the sine die
adjournment. See 101-2, Jan. 23, 1990, p ____. Under the standing
rules of the House since the 97th Congress, the Clerk has been
authorized to receive messages from the President at any time that the
House is not in session. Rule III clause 5. Manual Sec. 647b.
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During Intrasession Adjournments
An adjournment of Congress during a session does not prevent the
President from returning a bill which he disapproves so long as
appropriate arrangements are made by the originating House for the
receipt of Presidential messages during the adjournment. Thus, it has
been held that a Senate bill cannot be pocket-vetoed by the President
during an ``intrasession'' adjournment of Congress to a day certain
for more than three days, where the Secretary of the Senate has been
authorized to receive Presidential messages during such adjournment.
Kennedy v Sampson, 511 F2d 430 (D.C. Cir. 1974). See also Kennedy v
Jones, 412 F Supp 353 (D.D.C. 1976). The Supreme Court has held that
the adjournment of the House of origin for not exceeding three days
while the other branch of the Congress remained in session, did not
prevent a return of a vetoed bill to the House of origin. Wright v
U.S., 302 U.S. 583 (1938).