Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes:
An Overview

Kevin R. Kosar
Analyst in American National Government
April 22, 2013
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RS22188
CRS Report for Congress
Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress

Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: An Overview

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, 37 of 44 Presidents have exercised their veto authority a total of
2,564 times. Congress has overridden these vetoes on 110 occasions (4.3%). Presidents have
vetoed 83 appropriations bills, and Congress has overridden 12 (14.5%) of these vetoes.
During the 111th Congress, President Barack H. Obama vetoed two bills, H.J.Res. 64, an FY2010
appropriations measure, and H.R. 3808, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010.
He has not vetoed any legislation since then.
This report will be updated as events warrant.
Congressional Research Service

Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: An Overview

Contents
Constitutional Basis and Importance ............................................................................................... 1
Overriding a Veto ............................................................................................................................. 1
Vetoes Exercised and Overridden .................................................................................................... 2
Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes ............................................................................................. 2
Vetoes of Appropriation Bills .................................................................................................... 4

Tables
Table 1. Presidential Vetoes, 1789-2012 .......................................................................................... 3
Table 2. Appropriations Bills Vetoed, 1789-2012 ............................................................................ 5

Contacts
Author Contact Information............................................................................................................. 6

Congressional Research Service

Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: An Overview

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. The President may sign a bill into law within the 10-day period (excluding Sundays)
provided in the Constitution,1 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.2 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 2,564 bills
since 1789; of these, Congress has overridden 110 (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).3 It also does
not address presidential signing statements.4
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

1 U.S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 7.
2 Beginning in 1929, several judicial decisions have attempted to clarify when an adjournment by Congress prevents
the President from returning a veto. In recent decades, Presidents occasionally have claimed to have pocket vetoed a
bill but then have returned the legislation to Congress. This practice, often called a “protective return veto,” is
controversial. See CRS Report RL30909, The Pocket Veto: Its Current Status, by Louis Fisher (out of print; available
from Kevin R. Kosar).
3 On these types of vetoes, see CRS Report RL33635, Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment Proposals: History and
Current Status
, by Virginia A. 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.
4 CRS Report RL33667, Presidential Signing Statements: Constitutional and Institutional Implications, by Todd
Garvey.
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Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: An Overview

President.5 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.6 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.
Vetoes Exercised and Overridden
Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes
Table 1 shows that, since the beginning of the federal government in 1789, 37 of 447 Presidents
have exercised their veto authority on a total of 2,564 occasions. Of that number, 1,498 (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.8 Congress has overridden 110
(7.3%) of the 1,498 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 regular vetoes since 1961 (the beginning of the Kennedy Administration),
one finds 233 vetoes and 37 overridden (15.9%).
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.

5 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.
6 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.
7 There have been 44 presidencies, but only 43 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. President George W. Bush characterized his veto of H.R. 1585 as a pocket veto. Since the 110th
Congress treated it as a regular veto, this report counts H.R. 1585 as a regular veto. Most recently, President Barack H.
Obama characterized his October 8, 2010, veto of H.R. 3808 as a “pocket veto.” (See Congressional Record—House,
November 15, 2010, p. H7402.) The House of Representatives treated it as a normal veto and voted unsuccessfully to
override it on November 17, 2010.
9 Most of those vetoes prior to 1961 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 RS22450, Procedural Analysis of Private Laws Enacted: 1986-2013, by Christopher M. Davis.
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Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: An Overview

Table 1. Presidential Vetoes, 1789-2012
Coincident
Vetoes
President
Congresses
Regular Vetoes
Pocket Vetoes
Total Vetoes
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 —

— —
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

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Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: An Overview

Coincident
Vetoes
President
Congresses
Regular Vetoes
Pocket Vetoes
Total Vetoes
Overridden
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 12

12
4
Obama 111th -
2
0
2

Total
1,498 1,066 2,564 110
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.
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.10 Despite these high
stakes, Presidents have vetoed 83 appropriations bills since 1789; more than half of these vetoes
have occurred since 1968.11 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%).12 President George W. Bush vetoed two appropriations bills. Congressional overrides of
vetoes of appropriations are not unusual; 12 of the 83 vetoes (14.5%) have been overridden (see
Table 2).

10 For additional information on federal government shutdowns, see CRS Report RL34680, Shutdown of the Federal
Government: Causes, Processes, and Effects
, coordinated by Clinton T. Brass.
11 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.
12 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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Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: An Overview

Table 2. Appropriations Bills Vetoed, 1789-2012
Coincident
President
Congresses
Approp. Acts Vetoed
Vetoes of Approp. Acts Overridden
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 —

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 —

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Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: An Overview

Coincident
President
Congresses
Approp. Acts Vetoed
Vetoes of Approp. Acts Overridden
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

Obama 111th -
1

Total
83
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.

Author Contact Information

Kevin R. Kosar

Analyst in American National Government
kkosar@crs.loc.gov, 7-3968




Congressional Research Service
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