US politics is undergoing a major shift after the midterm elections. With Democrats securing a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, they are expected to try to corner President Donald Trump. The President, however, holds a powerful constitutional tool to counter their legislative strategy: the veto.
The veto is a special power granted to the President by the Constitution to prevent a bill passed by Congress, the US Parliament, from becoming law. If the President considers a bill flawed or unfair, he can return it without signing it. The power also serves as a safeguard for the presidency against unilateral action by powerful members of Congress.
For a bill to become law, both the House and the Senate must first pass it by a simple majority, after which the President must sign it. If Congress is in session and the President does not sign a bill within 10 days, it becomes law automatically. The veto is not an absolute weapon, as the President cannot alter the provisions of a bill himself. He can, however, threaten a veto to push lawmakers into making changes he wants. Congress can also override a vetoed bill: if both chambers pass it again by a two-thirds majority, it becomes law without the President’s approval, though such instances are rare in American history.
The veto takes two main forms. In a regular veto, the President refuses to sign the bill and returns it to Congress within 10 days, after which lawmakers may re-pass it by a two-thirds majority. In a pocket veto, the President neither signs the bill nor returns it, and uses this method deliberately when exactly 10 days remain before Congress adjourns. Pocket vetoes account for about 41 percent of all vetoes in US history, but no president has used one since 2000.
US presidents have so far used the veto on a total of 2,599 bills, with 38 presidents exercising the power on various occasions. Franklin D. Roosevelt used it the most, on 635 bills.