The Veto, the Pocket Veto, and the Override

The veto is the president's power to refuse to sign a bill, sending it back to the chamber where it started along with objections. Congress can still make it law by overriding: two-thirds of the House (290 of 435) and two-thirds of the Senate (67 of 100) must vote yes again. That threshold is high on purpose, so overrides are rare; most vetoes stick. Because everyone in Congress knows this math in advance, the veto shapes bills long before any veto is actually cast. A president who signals they will reject a bill pushes Congress to write something closer to what the president wants, just to avoid the fight. That is the veto threat at work: it edits legislation quietly, without ever being used.

A pocket veto is different and final. If the president simply does not sign a bill within ten days and Congress has adjourned during that window, the bill dies automatically. There is no bill sent back, no objections message, nothing for Congress to vote to override. Congress's only path forward is to start over and pass the bill again in a new session.

This fits into the bigger pattern of checks between Congress and the president: Congress writes law, the president can block it, Congress can try to overcome that block, and the courts later decide if the law or the veto process itself was constitutional. The veto is also strictly whole-bill, which connects to why presidents lean on other tools, like signing statements or threats, to shape policy instead.