Lawmaking: Veto of a Reagan Veto

After Congress passes a bill, the President has ten working days to veto it, says the Constitution. He can do so in two ways: 1) he can return the measure to Congress unsigned; or 2) if Congress has adjourned, he can do nothing, exercising the pocket veto. Unlike the normal veto, the pocket veto cannot be overridden by a two-thirds vote. President Reagan tried one last November. The measure in question was a bill declaring that there should be no military aid to El Salvador unless the President could report improvements in that nation's human rights record.

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