Order Code RS22188
Updated June 26, 2007
Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes:
An Overview
Kevin R. Kosar
Analyst in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Summary
The veto power vested in the President by Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution
has proven to be an effective tool for the chief executive in his dealings with Congress.
Since the founding of the federal government in 1789, 36 of 43 Presidents have
exercised their veto authority a total of 2,553 times. Congress has overridden these
vetoes on 106 occasions (4.2%). Presidents have vetoed 81 appropriations bills, and
Congress has overridden 12 (14.8%) of these vetoes. This report will be updated at the
beginning of each new Congress or after a veto.
Constitutional Basis and Importance
To become law, the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 7) provides that all bills that
have been approved by both houses of Congress must be presented to the President for
his approval and signature.1 The President may sign a bill into law within the 10-day
period (excluding Sundays) provided in the Constitution,2 let it become law without his
signature, or veto it. The Constitution states that, when the President vetoes a bill, “he
shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated.” This
type of action is called a “regular” or “return” veto. If, on the other hand, Congress has
adjourned within the 10-day period after presentation of the bill to the President (thereby
preventing the return of the bill to Congress), the President may simply withhold his
signature, and the bill does not become law — a practice that has been dubbed a “pocket”
veto.3 The President’s veto authority is among his most significant tools in legislative
1 These bills include joint resolutions, but do not include proposed amendments to the
Constitution, which require a two-thirds vote in each house, and are sent directly to the states for
approval. U.S. Constitution, Art. V.
2 U.S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 7.
3 Beginning in 1929, several judicial decisions have attempted to clarify when an adjournment
(continued...)
CRS-2
dealings with Congress. Illustrative of this point is the fact that Presidents have vetoed
2,553 bills since 1789; of these, Congress has overridden 106 (4.2%). Moreover, the veto
also can be effective as a threat, sometimes forcing Congress to modify legislation before
it is presented to the President.
This report presents information on how regular vetoes can be overridden by
Congress, the number of vetoes by each President, and the use of vetoes in relation to
appropriations bills. The report does not address two other types of vetoes — “line-item”
vetoes (since the President has no such power at present) and “legislative” vetoes (which
are wielded by Congress, not the President).4 It also does not address presidential signing
statements.5
Overriding a Veto
If a bill is pocket vetoed while Congress is out of session, the only way for Congress
to overcome the veto is to reintroduce the legislation as a new bill, pass it through both
houses, and present it to the President again for his signature. On the other hand,
Congress may override a regular veto without introducing new legislation.
According to Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution, when the President chooses not
to sign a bill and instead returns it to the chamber that originated it, the chamber enters
the message of the President detailing the reasons for the veto into its Journal and then
proceeds “to reconsider” the bill. The Constitution is otherwise silent on how Congress
should consider a vetoed bill, and it is therefore House and Senate procedures that govern
the treatment of bills returned by the President.6
Passage by a two-thirds margin in both houses is required to override a veto before
the end of the Congress in which the veto is received. Although the Constitution states
that approval requires “two thirds of that House,” congressional procedure, tradition, and
judicial rulings have interpreted this requirement to mean two-thirds of those Members
present and voting, provided there is a quorum present. If a two-thirds vote is successful
in the originating house, that house informs the other of its decision to override the veto
by message. Neither house is under any constitutional, legal, or procedural obligation to
schedule an override vote. It is not unusual for Congress to make no effort to override the
veto if congressional leaders do not believe they have sufficient votes.
3 (...continued)
by Congress “prevents” the President from returning a veto. For information on these cases, see
CRS Report RL30909, The Pocket Veto: Its Current Status, by Louis Fisher.
4 On these types of vetoes, see CRS Report RL33635, Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment
Proposals: Legislative History and Current Status, by Virginia McMurtry; CRS Report
RL33365, Line Item Veto: A Constitutional Analysis of Recent Proposals, by Morton Rosenberg;
and CRS Report RS22132, Legislative Vetoes After Chadha, by Louis Fisher.
5 CRS Report RL33667, Presidential Signing Statements: Constitutional and Institutional
Implications, by T. J. Halstead.
6 For information on House and Senate procedures for considering vetoed bills, see CRS Report
RS22654, Veto Override Procedure in the House and Senate, by Elizabeth Rybicki.
CRS-3
Vetoes Exercised and Overridden
Pocket Vetoes and Returned Vetoes
Table 1 shows that, since the beginning of the federal government in 1789, 35 of 437
Presidents have exercised their veto authority on a total of 2,553 occasions. Of that
number, 1,487 (58.2%) have been regular vetoes — that is, the rejected legislation was
returned to the congressional house of origin, while it was in session, with a presidential
message of explanation — and 1,066 (41.8%) were pocket vetoes, or rejected while
Congress was adjourned.8 Congress has overridden 106 (7.1%) of the 1,487 regular
vetoes. This percentage, though, is skewed downward by the enormous number of vetoes
in administrations prior to the 87th Congress (which began in 1961).9 If one counts only
the normal vetoes since 1961 (the beginning of the Kennedy Administration), one finds
222 vetoes and 33 overridden (14.9%).
George W. Bush was the first President since John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) to
serve a full term without wielding his veto.10 No president since Thomas Jefferson (1801-
1809) has served two terms without vetoing a bill.
Table 1. Presidential Vetoes, 1789-2007
Coincident
Vetoes
President
Regular Vetoes
Pocket Vetoes
Total Vetoes
Congresses
Overridden
Washington
1st -4th
2
—
2
—
Adams
5th -6th
—
—
—
—
Jefferson
7th -10th
—
—
—
—
Madison
11th -14th
5
2
7
—
Monroe
15th -18th
1
—
1
—
J. Q. Adams
19th -20th
—
—
—
—
Jackson
21st -24th
5
7
12
—
7 There have been 43 presidencies but only 42 persons have served as President. Grover
Cleveland was elected to two presidencies.
8 President George H.W. Bush attempted to pocket veto two bills during intrasession recesses.
Congress considered the two bills enacted into law because the President had not returned the
legislation. These two disputed vetoes are not included in Table 1.
9 Most of those vetoes prior to 1960 were of private bills (i.e., legislation that would confer
benefits upon a single person or company) which were almost never overridden. In 1971,
Congress gave administrators more discretion to handle the claims of individuals. Thus, the need
for congressionally passed private bills has dropped dramatically — from hundreds per annum
to a few dozen — and, therefore, the opportunities for vetoes. On private bills, see CRS Report
98-628, Private Bills: Procedure in the House, by Richard S. Beth.
10 During his second term in office, President Bush vetoed H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research
Enhancement Act of 2005, on July 19, 2006; H.R. 1591, the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’
Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007, on May 1, 2007; and
S. 5, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, on June 20, 2007.
CRS-4
Coincident
Vetoes
President
Regular Vetoes
Pocket Vetoes
Total Vetoes
Congresses
Overridden
Van Buren
25th -26th
—
1
1
—
W. H. Harrison
27th
—
—
—
—
Tyler
27th -28th
6
4
10
1
Polk
29th -30th
2
1
3
—
Taylor
31st
—
—
—
—
Fillmore
31st -32nd
—
—
—
—
Pierce
33rd -34th
9
—
9
5
Buchanan
35th -36th
4
3
7
—
Lincoln
37th-39th
2
5
7
—
A. Johnson
39th-40th 21
8
29
15
Grant
41st-44th 45
48
93
4
Hayes
45th-46th 12
1
13
1
Garfield
47th
—
—
—
—
Arthur
47th -48th
4
8
12
1
Cleveland
49th -50th 304
110
414
2
B. Harrison
51st -52nd 19
25
44
1
Cleveland
53rd -54th 42
128
170
5
McKinley
55th -57th
6
36
42
—
T. Roosevelt
57th -60th 42
40
82
1
Taft
61st -62nd 30
9
39
1
Wilson
63rd -66th 33
11
44
6
Harding
67th
5
1
6
—
Coolidge
68th -70th 20
30
50
4
Hoover
71st -72nd 21
16
37
3
F. D. Roosevelt
73rd -79th 372
263
635
9
Truman
79th -82nd
180
70
250
12
Eisenhower
83rd -86th 73
108
181
2
Kennedy
87th -88th 12
9
21
—
L. B. Johnson
88th -90th 16
14
30
—
Nixon
91st -93rd 26
17
43
7
Ford
93rd -94th 48
18
66
12
Carter
95th -96th 13
18
31
2
Reagan
97th -100th 39
39
78
9
G. H. W. Bush
101st -102nd 29
15
44
1
Clinton
103rd -106th 36
1
37
2
G. W. Bush
107th -110th
3
—
3
—
Total
1,487
1,066
2,553
106
CRS-5
Sources: U.S. Congress, Senate, Secretary of the Senate, Presidential Vetoes, 1789-1988, S.Pub. 102-12,
103rd Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington: GPO, 1992); and U.S. Congress, Senate, Secretary of the Senate,
Presidential Vetoes, 1989-1991, S.Pub.102-13, 103rd Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington: GPO, 1992).
Vetoes of Appropriation Bills
A veto of an appropriations bill can result in the closure of federal agencies, the
furlough of federal employees, and the interruption of federal programs and services.11
Despite these high stakes, Presidents have vetoed many appropriation bills.12 For
example, Presidents Carter, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Clinton were presented with
a total of 387 annual appropriations acts and vetoed 30 of them (7.8%).13 President
George W. Bush has vetoed one appropriation bill. Congressional overrides of vetoes of
appropriations are not unusual. For example, of the 81 vetoes of appropriations since
1789, 12 (14.8%) were overridden (see Table 2). Interestingly, more than half of the
vetoes of appropriations bills have occurred since 1968.
Table 2. Appropriations Bills Vetoed, 1789-2007
Coincident
President
Approp. Acts Vetoed
Vetoes of Approp. Acts Overridden
Congresses
Washington
1st -4th
—
—
Adams
5th -6th
—
—
Jefferson
7th -10th
—
—
Madison
11th -14th
—
—
Monroe
15th -18th
—
—
J. Q. Adams
19th -20th
—
—
Jackson
21st -24th
—
—
Van Buren
25th -26th
—
—
W. H. Harrison
27th
—
—
Tyler
27th -28th
2
—
Polk
29th -30th
1
—
Taylor
31st
—
—
Fillmore
31st -32nd
—
—
Pierce
33rd -34th
4
2
11 For additional information on federal government shutdowns, see CRS (archived) Report 98-
844, Shutdown of the Federal Government: Causes, Effects, and Process, by Kevin R. Kosar,
available from the author.
12 The data in this section and in Table 2 include annual appropriations acts (which provide
annual funding for the routine operations of most federal agencies), supplemental appropriations
acts, and continuing appropriations acts. Excluded are measures dealing with impoundments,
transfers, line-item vetoes under the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, and bills proposing
appropriations for the relief of private claims.
13 CRS (archived) Report RS20719, Vetoed Annual Appropriation Acts: Presidents Carter
Through Clinton, by Mitchell Sollenberger, available from the author.
CRS-6
Coincident
President
Approp. Acts Vetoed
Vetoes of Approp. Acts Overridden
Congresses
Buchanan
35th -36th
1
—
Lincoln
37th-39th
—
—
A. Johnson
39th-40th
—
—
Grant
41st-44th
—
—
Hayes
45th-46th
5
—
Garfield
47th
—
—
Arthur
47th-48th
1
1
Cleveland
49th -50th
1
—
B. Harrison
51st -52nd
—
—
Cleveland
53rd -54th
5
1
McKinley
55th -57th
—
—
T. Roosevelt
57th -60th
—
—
Taft
61st -62nd
4
—
Wilson
63rd -66th
8
—
Harding
67th
1
—
Coolidge
68th -70th
—
—
Hoover
71st -72nd
2
—
F. D. Roosevelt
73rd -79th
1
1
Truman
79th -82nd
1
1
Eisenhower
83rd -86th
3
1
Kennedy
87th -88th
—
—
L. B. Johnson
88th -90th
—
—
Nixon
91st -93rd
5
1
Ford
93rd -94th
5
3
Carter
95th -96th
2
—
Reagan
97th -100th
6
1
G. H. W. Bush
101st -102nd
8
—
Clinton
103rd -106th 14
—
G. W. Bush
107th -110th
1
—
Total
81
12
Sources: U.S. Congress, Senate, Secretary of the Senate, Presidential Vetoes, 1789-1988, S.Pub. 102-12,
103rd Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington: GPO, 1992); and U.S. Congress, Senate, Secretary of the Senate,
Presidential Vetoes, 1989-1991, S.Pub.102-13, 103rd Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington: GPO, 1992).