What is veto power of President

March 03, 1845

Table of Contents Show

Last Updated January 1, 2021
What are the three types of Veto?
Absolute Veto of the President
Suspensive Veto of the President
Pocket Veto of the President
Summary of Veto Powers of President for UPSC

Last Updated January 1, 2021

/tiles/non-collection/f/fdr_vetomessage_2008_231_002.xml Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
About this object In 1935, FDR came to the House Chamber to deliver his veto message in person.

Article I, section 7 of the Constitution grants the President the authority to veto legislation passed by Congress. This authority is one of the most significant tools the President can employ to prevent the passage of legislation. Even the threat of a veto can bring about changes in the content of legislation long before the bill is ever presented to the President. The Constitution provides the President 10 days (excluding Sundays) to act on legislation or the legislation automatically becomes law. There are two types of vetoes: the “regular veto” and the “pocket veto.”The regular veto is a qualified negative veto. The President returns the unsigned legislation to the originating house of Congress within a 10 day period usually with a memorandum of disapproval or a “veto message.” Congress can override the President’s decision if it musters the necessary two–thirds vote of each house. President George Washington issued the first regular veto on April 5, 1792. The first successful congressional override occurred on March 3, 1845, when Congress overrode President John Tyler’s veto of S. 66.

The pocket veto is an absolute veto that cannot be overridden. The veto becomes effective when the President fails to sign a bill after Congress has adjourned and is unable to override the veto. The authority of the pocket veto is derived from the Constitution’s Article I, section 7, “the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case, it shall not be law.” Over time, Congress and the President have clashed over the use of the pocket veto, debating the term “adjournment.” The President has attempted to use the pocket veto during intra- and inter- session adjournments and Congress has denied this use of the veto. The Legislative Branch, backed by modern court rulings, asserts that the Executive Branch may only pocket veto legislation when Congress has adjourned sine die from a session. President James Madison was the first President to use the pocket veto in 1812.

Congresses	President	Regular Vetoes	Pocket Vetoes	Total Vetoes	Vetoes Overridden
1st-4th	George Washington	2	.....	2	.....
5th-6th	John Adams	.....	.....	.....	.....
7th-10th	Thomas Jefferson	.....	.....	.....	.....
11th–14th	James Madison	5	2	7	.....
15th–18th	James Monroe	1	.....	1	.....
19th–20th	John Quincy Adams	.....	.....	.....	.....
21st–24th	Andrew Jackson	5	7	12	.....
25th–26th	Martin Van Buren	.....	1	1	.....
27th	William Henry Harrison	.....	.....	.....	.....
27th–28th	John Tyler	6	4	10	1
29th–30th	James K. Polk	2	1	3	.....
31st	Zachary Taylor	.....	.....	.....	.....
31st–32nd	Millard Fillmore	.....	.....	.....	.....
33rd–34th	Franklin Pierce	9	.....	9	5
35th–36th	James Buchanan	4	3	7	.....
37th–39th	Abraham Lincoln	2	5	7	.....
39th–40th	Andrew Johnson	21	8	29	15
41st–44th	Ulysses S. Grant	45	48	93	4
45th–46th	Rutherford B. Hayes	12	1	13	1
47th	James A. Garfield	.....	.....	.....	.....
47th–48th	Chester A. Arthur	4	8	12	1
49th–50th	Grover Cleveland	304	110	414	2
51st–52nd	Benjamin Harrison	19	25	44	1
53rd–54th	Grover Cleveland	42	128	170	5
55th–57th	William McKinley	6	36	42	.....
57th–60th	Theodore Roosevelt	42	40	82	1
61st–62nd	William H. Taft	30	9	39	1
63rd–66th	Woodrow Wilson	33	11	44	6
67th	Warren G. Harding	5	1	6	.....
68th–70th	Calvin Coolidge	20	30	50	4
71st–72nd	Herbert C. Hoover	21	16	37	3
73rd–79th	Franklin D. Roosevelt	372	263	635	9
79th–82nd	Harry S. Truman	180	70	250	12
83rd–86th	Dwight D. Eisenhower	73	108	181	2
87th–88th	John F. Kennedy	12	9	21	.....
88th–90st	Lyndon B. Johnson	16	14	30	.....
91st–93rd	Richard M. Nixon	26	17	43	7
93rd–94th	Gerald R. Ford	48	18	66	12
95th–96th	James Earl Carter	13	18	31	2
97th–100th	Ronald Reagan	39	39	78	9
101st–102nd	George H. W. Bush1	29	15	44	1
103rd–106th	William J. Clinton2	36	1	37	2
107th–110th	George W. Bush3	12	.....	12	4
111th–114th	Barack H. Obama4	12	.....	12	1
115th–116th	Donald J. Trump	10	.....	10	1
Total		1518	1066	2584	112

When a bill is introduced in the Parliament, Parliament can pass the bill and before the bill becomes an act, it has to be presented to the Indian President for his approval. It is up to the President of India to either reject the bill, return the bill or withhold his/her assent to the bill. The choice of the President over the bill is called the veto power. Veto Power of the President of India is guided by Article 111 of the Indian Constitution and makes an important topic for IAS Exam and its three stages – Prelims, Mains and Interview.

The topic, ‘Veto Power’ is a significant topic for UPSC Prelims and Mains GS-II exam from the perspective of Political Science subject. IAS aspirants should know the types of veto powers of President, the use of those powers and also the comparison of President’s Veto Power with Governor’s Veto Power.

This article will mention in detail about the types of veto powers of President and the comparison between his veto powers with that of the governor’s of the state.

Veto Power – Indian Polity Notes:- Download PDF Here

What are the three types of Veto?

The three types of Vetoes are:

Absolute Veto
Suspensive Veto
Pocket Veto

Types of Veto
Absolute Veto	Suspensive Veto	Pocket Veto
The power of the President to withhold the assent to the bill is termed as his absolute veto	The power of the President to return the bill to the Parliament with or without consideration is called suspensive veto	The power of the President to not act upon the bill is termed as a pocket veto

To know the detailed process of how a bill is passed in the Indian Parliament, candidates may check the linked article.

Absolute Veto of the President

The facts about the absolute veto power of the Indian President are given below:

When the President exercises his absolute veto, a bill never sees the day of the light. The bill ends even after passed by the Indian Parliament and does not become an act.
President uses his absolute veto in the following two cases:
- When the bill passed by the Parliament is a Private Member Bill
- When the cabinet resigns before President could give his assent to the bill. The new cabinet may advise the President to not give his assent to the bill passed by the old cabinet.

Note: In India, the President has exercised his absolute veto before. In 1954, it was exercised by Dr. Rajendra Prasad as a President and later in 1991, it was used by the then President R Venkataraman.

Suspensive Veto of the President

The facts about the suspensive veto power of the Indian President are given below:

The President uses his suspensive veto when he returns the bill to the Indian Parliament for its reconsideration.
- Note: If the Parliament resends the bill with or without amendment to the Indian President, he has to approve the bill without using any of his veto powers.
His suspensive veto can be over-ridden by the repassage of the bill by the Indian Parliament
- Note: With respect to state bills, state legislature has no power to override the suspensive veto of President. The Governor can withhold the bill for the President’s consideration and even if state legislature resends the bill to governor and governor to President, he still can withhold his assent.
When the Parliament resends the bill to the President, it has to follow only the ordinary majority in the houses and not the higher majority.)
The President cannot exercise his suspensive veto in relation to Money Bill.

Pocket Veto of the President

The facts about the suspensive veto power of the Indian President are given below:

The bill is kept pending by the President for an indefinite period when he exercises his pocket veto.
He neither rejects the bill nor returns the bill for reconsideration.
Constitution does not give any time-limit to President within which he has to act upon the bill. Therefore, the President uses his pocket veto where he doesn’t have to act upon the bill.
Unlike the American President who has to resend the bill within 10 days, the Indian President has no such time-rule.

Note:

The Indian President has exercised this veto power before. In 1986, President Zail Singh exercised this pocket veto.
The President has no veto power when it comes to the constitutional amendment bills. (To know the more about the types of amendment in the constitution, refer to the linked article.)

Summary of Veto Powers of President for UPSC

The table below gives the summary of President’s veto powers:

Types of Bills	President’s Actions
With regard to Ordinary Bills	President can:
With regard to Money Bills	President can: President cannot:
With regard to the Constitutional Amendment Bills (Know about the important amendments in the constitution here.)	President can: President cannot: