Limit on presidential veto question?

May 2021 4 47 Report

Limit on presidential veto question?

My American Government teacher told us the other day that the president can only veto bills that deal with money. I'd never heard this ever before and I couldn't find any mention of it in the constitution. Is this true?

Update:

Sure, but he was talking about allocating money to some specific cause, etc, not passing a bill for instance outlawing something and then saying that the law should be enforced by some federal agency which already has a budget.

Politics & Government / Government

Teekno

Verified answer

The President can veto any bill presented for his signature, whether it deals with money or not.

no, the president has full power to veto any law that passes through congress, but if he doesn't sign it in 10 days or if congress then revotes on the bill, if there's a 2/3 majority in favor of the bill, it's passed even without the president's signature.

ps: I agree with Pat, if your teacher doesn't know that fundamental fact about the US legislature, he/she has no business being a civics teacher. I would bring this up with the principal in secret to see what he/she says about it, maybe have the teacher replaced with a more suitable teacher who actually knows what their talking about.

crunch

This is what the Constitution has to say about the "veto":

Article I Section 7

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. 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.

So, no it is NOT true. The President can veto any legislation.

Did you also notice that a bill can become law without the President's signature? He has 10 days (not counting Sundays) to sign a Bill or return it to Congress. If he does not sign nor return the bill, it becomes law anyway.

It gives shelter to a President on unpopular legislation. If it becomes law without a Presidential signature, the President can say they did not support the bill becoming law but there were insufficient votes in Congress to allow a veto. In short, "I don't like it but I couldn't stop it.