What is a presidential veto?
A presidential veto is the Constitutional power a president has to power to stop a bill passed by Congress from becoming law. For a bill to be enacted, it must pass by vote in both chambers of Congress — the House of Representatives and the Senate — and then signed by the president (or ignored by the president; if the bill passes Congress but then goes untouched for 10 days while Congress remains in session, it automatically becomes law). When the president refuses to sign the bill and sends it back to Congress, that’s a veto.
Presidential veto power is not absolute — Congress can override them if both chambers approve the bill with a two-thirds majority.
President Donald Trump has issued two vetoes in the current term. Neither of those vetoes were overridden by Congress.
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How many bills have been vetoed by the president?
Presidents have vetoed 2,599 bills in the country’s legislative history, beginning with two in George Washington’s two terms. Congress voted to override 112 of them, or 4.3%.
Some presidents vetoed hundreds of bills; Franklin D. Roosevelt used his veto power 635 times in his four terms. Among one- and two-term presidents, Grover Cleveland wins Most Likely to Veto, rejecting 414 bills in his first term and another 170 in his (nonconsecutive) second term for a total of 584.
Seven presidents — John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Q. Adams, William H. Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, and James A. Garfield — never leveraged their veto power.
US presidents have vetoed 2,599 bills and were overridden by Congress 112 times.
Total presidential vetoes by presidential term and override status
What is a pocket veto?
If the president ignores a bill for 10 days while Congress is in session, it becomes law. But if Congress is in recess? This is a pocket veto.
Pocket vetoes happen when the president refuses to sign the bill for a 10-day period while Congress isn’t in session, which eliminates the possibility of a Congressional override. They’ve been the subject of much political and legal controversy.
The pocket veto has gone unused since the Clinton Administration in 2000. This is partially a result of the Congressional schedule — Congress now often holds brief “pro forma” sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays to avoid extended breaks that might stall legislation.
Still, 41.0% of all presidential vetoes in US history have been pocket vetoes.
Pocket vetoes account for 41% of all historical presidential vetoes.
Total regular and pocket vetoes by presidential term
When are most vetoes issued?
Most presidential vetoes now happen when control of the executive and legislative branches are politically divided — that is, when the Senate majority, House majority, and presidency aren’t all aligned under one party.
In previous decades, some of the congressional sessions with the most vetoes were under a unified government. But since 1981, 203 bills have been vetoed during divided Congresses. When both chambers of Congress and the president are unified? Just five, 2% of vetoes.
Since 1981, 98% of presidential vetoes have been issued under divided governments.
Presidential vetoes by year and party alignment of federal government
Keep exploring
- What is the 25th Amendment?
- How does the government budget process work? - Congress hasn't passed a full budget on time since 1997. How is the government getting funded?
- How many laws has Congress passed in its current term?
- What is the 20th Amendment?
Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.