pocket veto

(noun)

a legislative maneuver in lawmaking that allows a president or other official to unilaterally stop a bill by taking no action

Related Terms

Examples of pocket veto in the following topics:

  • Chief Legislator

    • When the president receives legislation, he decides whether to veto it, use the pocket veto, sign it, or do nothing.
    • In 1996, Congress attempted to enhance the president's veto power with the Line Item Veto Act.
    • If the president then vetoed the new legislation, Congress could override the veto by the ordinary method of a two-thirds vote in both houses.
    • Supreme Court ruled such a legislative alteration of the veto power to be unconstitutional.
    • Assess the significance of the Line Item Veto for executive power

  • The Conflict-Resolution Function

    • If the bill is vetoed, the president returns it to Congress with his objections.
    • A vetoed bill can still become law if each house of Congress votes to override the veto with a two-thirds majority.
    • However, if Congress is adjourned during this period, the president may veto legislation passed at the end of a congressional session simply by ignoring it.
    • This maneuver is known as a pocket veto.

  • The Battle over Reconstruction

    • Lincoln pocket-vetoed this bill.
    • In 1866, Johnson vetoed two important bills.
    • Over Johnson's vetoes, Congress passed three Reconstruction acts in 1867 which divided the southern states into five military districts under the control of the Union army.

  • The Division and Separation of Power

    • The president exercises a check over Congress through his power to veto bills, but Congress may override any veto (excluding the so-called pocket veto) by a two-thirds majority in each house.

  • Lincoln's Plan and Congress's Response

    • Lincoln later pocket vetoed this new bill.
    • These initially were vetoed by President Johnson, but later were overridden by Congress.

  • Vetoes

    • Some projects allow a special kind of vote known as a veto.
    • With vetoes comes the problem of veto abuse.
    • You can prevent veto abuse by being very reluctant to use vetoes yourself, and by gently calling it out when someone else uses her veto too often.
    • Either the vetoing developer will back down, or the group will decide to weaken the meaning of a veto.
    • Like votes, vetoes can apply retroactively.

  • Optional Collaborative Classrom Exercise

    • Raise your hand if you have any change in your pocket or purse.
    • P(change) means the probability that a randomly chosen person in your class has change in his/her pocket or purse.
    • Find P(change and bus) Find the probability that a randomly chosen student in your class has change in his/her pocket or purse and rode a bus within the last month.

  • Optional Collaborative Exercise

    • Count the money (bills and change) in your pocket or purse.

  • Blister

    • A blister is a small pocket of fluid in the upper skin layers, forming as fluid collects between the epidermis and the layers beneath.
    • A blister is a small pocket of fluid within the upper layers of the skin.
    • Differentiate among the various types of blisters: fluid-filled pockets between epidermis and dermis

  • The Radical Record

    • In January 1866, Congress renewed the Freedmen's Bureau, which Johnson vetoed in February.
    • An attempt to override the veto failed on February 20, 1866.
    • This veto shocked the congressional Radicals.
    • However, the Republicans in Congress overrode his veto.
    • The Senate overrode the veto by the close vote of 33:15, the House by 122:41.