Order Code RS22188
Updated June 27, 2008
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 2,561 times. Congress has overridden these
vetoes on 109 occasions (4.3%). Presidents have vetoed 82 appropriations bills, and
Congress has overridden 12 (14.6%) of these vetoes. This report will be updated as
events warrant.
Constitutional Basis and Importance
The U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 7) provides that, for a bill to become law,
it must be approved by both houses of Congress and 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
dealings with Congress. Illustrative of this point is the fact that Presidents have vetoed
1 Pamela A. Hairston, CRS Information Research Specialist, provided assistance in updating the
veto statistics in this report.
2 U.S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 7.
3 Beginning in 1929, several judicial decisions have attempted to clarify when an adjournment
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.

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CRS-2
2,561 bills since 1789; of these, Congress has overridden 109 (4.3%). Moreover, the veto
also can be effective as a threat, sometimes forcing Congress to modify legislation before
presenting it to the President.
This report presents information on how Congress can override regular vetoes, 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 override 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. Because the Constitution does not state exactly how
Congress should reconsider a vetoed bill, House and Senate procedures govern the
specific 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.7 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.
4 On these types of vetoes, see CRS Report RL33635, Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment
Proposals: 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.
7 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.

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CRS-3
Vetoes Exercised and Overridden
Pocket Vetoes and Returned Vetoes
Table 1 shows that, since the beginning of the federal government in 1789, 36 of 438
Presidents have exercised their veto authority on a total of 2,561 occasions. Of that
number, 1,495 (58.4%) were 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 (41.6%) were pocket vetoes, or rejected while Congress was
adjourned.9 Congress has overridden 109 (7.3%) of the 1,495 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).10 If one counts only the
normal vetoes since 1961 (the beginning of the Kennedy Administration), one finds 230
vetoes and 36 overridden (15.6%).
George W. Bush was the first President since John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) to
serve a full term without wielding his veto. No president since Thomas Jefferson (1801-
1809) has served two terms without vetoing a bill.
Table 1. Presidential Vetoes, 1789-2008
Coincident
Vetoes
President
Regular Vetoes
Pocket Vetoes
Total Vetoes
Congresses
Overridden
Washington
1st -4th
2
—
2
—
J. 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


—
Van Buren
25th -26th
—
1
1
—
W. H. Harrison
27th
—
—
—
—
8 There have been 43 presidencies, but only 42 persons have served as President. Grover
Cleveland was elected to two presidencies.
9 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. President George W. Bush
characterized his veto of H.R. 1585 as a pocket veto. Since the 110th Congress treated it as a
normal veto, this report counts H.R. 1585 as a normal veto.
10 Most of those vetoes prior to 1960 were of private bills (i.e., legislation that would confer
benefits upon a single person or company) and 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.

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CRS-4
Coincident
Vetoes
President
Regular Vetoes
Pocket Vetoes
Total Vetoes
Congresses
Overridden
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 11

—
11
3
Total
1,495
1,066
2,561
109
Sources: U.S. Congress, Senate, Secretary of the Senate, “Vetoes” Web page, available at
[http://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Vetoes_vrd.htm].

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CRS-5
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 82 appropriations bills since 1789; more
than half of these vetoes have occurred since 1968.12 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 two appropriations bills. Congressional overrides of vetoes of appropriations are
not unusual; 12 of the 82 vetoes (14.6%) have been overridden (see Table 2).
Table 2. Appropriations Bills Vetoed, 1789-2008
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
Buchanan
35th -36th
1


—
Lincoln
37th-39th
—
—
A. Johnson
39th-40th
—
—
Grant
41st-44th
—
—
11 For additional information on federal government shutdowns, see CRS Report 98-844,
Shutdown of the Federal Government: Causes, Effects, and Process, by Kevin R. Kosar (out of
print; 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 Report RS20719, Vetoed Annual Appropriation Acts: Presidents Carter Through Clinton,
by Mitchell Sollenberger (out of print; available from Kevin R. Kosar).

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CRS-6
Coincident
President
Approp. Acts Vetoed
Vetoes of Approp. Acts Overridden
Congresses
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
2


—
Total
82
12
Sources: U.S. Congress, Senate, Secretary of the Senate, “Vetoes” Web page, available at
[http://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Vetoes_vrd.htm].
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