POCKET VETO

A 'pocket veto' is a legislative maneuver in American federal lawmaking, and is a process of indirect rejection. The U.S. Constitution requires the President to sign or veto any legislation placed on his or her desk within ten days (not including Sundays) while the United States Congress is in session. From the U.S. Constitution Article 1, Section 7 states: "''... 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. ''" If the President does not sign the bill within the required time period, the bill becomes law by default. However, the exception to this rule is if Congress s before the ten days have passed and the President has not yet signed the bill. In such a case, the bill does not become law; it is effectively, if not actually, vetoed. If the President does sign the bill, the bill becomes law. Ignoring legislation, or "putting a bill in one's pocket" until Congress adjourns is thus called a ''pocket veto''. Since Congress cannot vote while in adjournment, a pocket veto cannot be overridden.

Contents

Legal status

References

Legal status

Courts have never fully clarified when an adjournment by Congress would "prevent" the President from returning a vetoed bill. Some Presidents have interpreted the Constitution to restrict the pocket veto to the adjournment sine die of Congress at the end of the second session of the two-year Congressional term, while others interpreted it to allow intersession and intrasession pocket vetoes. In 1929, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the Pocket Veto Case that a bill had to be returned to the chamber while it is in session and capable of work. A three-day recess of the Senate was considered a short enough time that the Senate could still act with "reasonable promptitude" on the veto. However, a five-month adjournment would be a long enough period to enable a pocket veto. Within those constraints, there still exists some ambiguity; Presidents have been reluctant to pursue disputed pocket vetoes to the Supreme Court for fear of an adverse ruling that would serve as a precedent in future cases[1].

References

★ Fisher, Louis: The Pocket Veto: Its Current Status, Mar. 30, 2001.

★ Foster, Brian: Glossary of Legislative Terminology, UM Library updated June 09, 2005, Oct. 29, 2006.