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Order Code 98-157 GOV
Updated November 4, 2000
Congressional Overrides of Presidential Vetoes
Gary L. Galemore
Analyst in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Summary
The Presidenit's veto au~thoity is amiong( his miost sinificanit tools ini legislative
deal Iings w\Ith Cong-ress. It is effectivNe not onl y ini p)revenit Ing the passage of l eg IslatIin
undesirable to the President, buit also as a threat, somietimies forcing. Cong,(ress to miodify
legislationi before it is presenited to the President. Studenits Of execu~tive-leglislative
r-elat]ins suggT(est that Cong-ress's str-eng(th rests w\ithi passing~ statutes anid the Presidenit's
InI vetoing( theml. Illu~strativ e of this p~oinit is the fact that Presidents have v etoed 1,484
bills a.d Cong.ess has oerridden only 106 of them.
President W illiami Cl1inton has vetoed 36 bills. C'ongress has overriddeni tw\o of
these vetoes. As a v eto threat is carried out, Conigress is faced w\ithi chioices: lettling the
v eto stanid, the difficult task of ov erridig the v eto, mieeting- the Presidenit's objectionls
anid seniding( a niew bill forw-\ard, or- r~esuibitting( the samie prIov isins under a niew bill
1nmber.1 InI the case of vetoed appropriationis bills, thle r-eslt cani be the closurIe Of
federal agencies anid thle furIlough1l Of hun~dreds Of thIousan-ds of federal emiployees, w\ith
the inevitable disrupIItion of federal programis anid serv ices, see CRS Report 98- 156, The
PreCsidential VetCo and CnrsialProcedulre, CRS Report 98- 148, Presidential
Vetloes, 189-Present:. A4 Summ11aryv Overview, anid CRS Report 98-147, President
Clinton '.s VetCoes. All v eto reports are Updated r-eguLlarly\.
Background
Historically, the veto power granted the President in the Constitution has proven to
be an effective tool for the Chief Executive in his dealings with Congress. Article I,
Section 7 of the Constitution provides, in effect, that a President needs the vote of only
one more than one-third in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to sustain
1 H.R. 1854 was vetoed October 3, 1995. See: Legislative Branch Appropriations Act,
1996-Veto Message from the President of the United States (H.Doc.No. 104-122), in
Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 141, Oct. 6, 1995, pp. H 9741-9742. H.R. 2492, the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1996, identical to H.R. 1854, passed the House October
3 1, passed the Senate November 2, and was signed into law on November 19 (P.L. 104-53).
Congressional Research Service The Library of Congress
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/crsmthaagwd0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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