Every bill Congress passes crosses the President's desk, and the President can say no. The veto makes the presidency a player in all lawmaking: even the threat of one shapes bills long before they pass.
Read the clause itself, verbatim and in plain language, in the in-app Constitution.
The President
Within ten days (Sundays excepted) the President signs, vetoes with a message of objections, or does nothing, which enacts the bill if Congress is in session and kills it (the pocket vetoIf Congress adjourns during the President's 10-day window so the bill cannot be returned, presidential inaction kills it instead of enacting it, and there is nothing to override.Full definition in the glossary) if Congress has adjourned and prevented its return. There is no line-item veto: the Supreme Court struck the 1996 attempt (Clinton v. City of New York), so the choice is the whole bill or nothing.
Constitution Annotated, Veto Power
Terms to know: vetoThe President's refusal to sign a measure, returning it to Congress with objections. Congress can override with two-thirds of both chambers.Full definition in the glossary · pocket vetoIf Congress adjourns during the President's 10-day window so the bill cannot be returned, presidential inaction kills it instead of enacting it, and there is nothing to override.Full definition in the glossary · overrideCongress enacting a measure over the President's veto, which takes a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate.Full definition in the glossary
