Also known as: vetoes · vetoed · vetoing · executive veto · presidential veto
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A power of one governmental branch to prohibit an action by another branch. The President's veto permits only approval or rejection of an entire bill and does not authorize unilateral cancellation of specific statutory provisions after enactment.
A power of one governmental branch to prohibit an action by another branch. The President's veto permits only approval or rejection of an entire bill and does not authorize unilateral cancellation of specific statutory provisions after enactment.
After Congress passed and the President signed the National Vehicle Data Privacy Act funding grants for biometric technology firms, the President issued a directive ordering the Department of Transportation to terminate awards to companies using facial recognition. Urban Stack, a qualifying startup, lost its earmarked grant. The directive attempted to nullify discrete statutory provisions without returning the bill to Congress.
A biological parent's right to object to the adoption of their child. An unmarried father's ability to exercise this right depends on demonstrated parental responsibility rather than a mere desire to block the adoption.
James, an unmarried biological father, visited his newborn sporadically after the state removed the child from the mother's custody for neglect. Miguel and his wife petitioned to adopt the child. James refused consent and sought to prevent the adoption despite having provided no regular support or custody efforts.
A biological parent's right to object to the adoption of their child. An unmarried father's ability to exercise this right depends on demonstrated parental responsibility rather than a mere desire to block the adoption.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
The Tech Bureau granted Ridge Systems a cybersecurity waiver under the Digital Safety and Cybersecurity Act. Sixty days later the House passed a resolution overturning the waiver without Senate concurrence or presentment to the President. Ridge Systems challenged the resolution's effect on its regulatory obligations.
A state statute required a married woman seeking an abortion to notify her husband. Many women subject to domestic abuse feared that notification would enable their husbands to prevent the procedure through coercion or force. The requirement effectively allowed one spouse to control the other's medical decision.
Congress considered legislation authorizing a committee of its members to review and nullify state enactments alleged to conflict with federal civil-rights guarantees. The proposed mechanism would have permitted one house to disapprove state measures without bicameral passage or presentment.
A state legislature enacted a statute regulating contraceptive access. Challengers urged the court to invalidate the law on the ground that it reflected unwise policy choices. The court declined to exercise an ongoing supervisory role over the legislature's judgment.
A traditional veto allows the President to approve or reject an entire bill. A line-item veto would permit cancellation of specific provisions after enactment, which the Constitution does not authorize.
It alters legal rights of persons outside Congress without bicameral passage and presentment to the President, violating the requirements of Article I.
Yes when it enables a husband to block his wife's decision through coercion or force, effectively granting one spouse control over another's constitutionally protected choice.
His right depends on actual manifestations of parental responsibility such as living with the child, visiting regularly, admitting paternity, and paying support. Mere opposition without demonstrated responsibility does not confer a veto.
…did on at least two occasions reject proposals which would have given the federal judiciary a part in recommending laws or in vetoing as bad or unwise the legislation passed by the Congress. Edmund Randolph of Virginia proposed that the President ". . . and a convenient number of the National Judiciary, ought to compose…