304 CHAPTER 10|THE PRESIDENCY
LEGISLATIVE POWER
The Constitution establishes lawmaking as a shared power between the presi-
dent and Congress, meaning that compromise is fundamental to this activity.^28
The president can recommend policies to Congress, notably in the annual State
of the Union address. The president and his staff also work with members of
Congress to develop legislative proposals, and although the president cannot
formally introduce legislation, it is typically easy to fi nd a member of Congress
willing to sponsor a presidential proposal.^29 Presidents and their legislative staff
also spend time lobbying members of Congress to support their proposals and
negotiating with legislative leaders over policy details.
The president’s legislative power also stems from the ability to veto legislation
(see Ch apt er 9). Once bot h ch a mber s of Con g res s h ave pa s sed a bi l l by si mple m ajor-
ity, the president must decide within two weeks whether to sign it or issue a veto.
Signed bills become law, but vetoed bills return to the House and Senate for a vote
to override the veto. If both chambers enact the bill again with at least two-thirds
majorities, the bill becomes law; otherwise it is defeated. If Congress adjourns
before the president has made his decision, the president can pocket veto the pro-
posal by not responding to it. Pocket vetoes cannot be overridden, but congressio-
nal leaders can avoid them by keeping Congress in session for two weeks after a bill
is enacted, thereby forcing the president either to sign the bill or to veto it.
Studies show that vetoes are most likely to occur under divided government,
when a president from one party faces a House and Senate controlled by the other
party.^30 Under these conditions, the veto allows the president to block proposals
supported by legislators from the other party, producing gridlock.^31 Ve t o e s a r e
much less likely under unifi ed government, when one party controls Congress and
the presidency, because the chances are much higher that the president and leg-
islators from his party hold similar policy priorities. By vetoing legislation, presi-
dents gain raw power over the legislative process and can stop a proposal dead in
its tracks unless it has strong support in both houses of Congress.
Democratic president Bill Clinton faced divided government, working with a
Republican-controlled Congress for all but the fi rst two of his eight years in offi ce.
Republican president George W. Bush, in contrast, had divided government with
Democratic control of the Senate during most of his fi rst two years, unifi ed gov-
ernment for the middle four years, and divided government once again when the
Democrats took control of Congress in the 2006 midterms. Clinton issued almost
40 vetoes in his eight years in offi ce, whereas Bush vetoed only 11 pieces of legisla-
tion in the same time. Bush’s low number of vetoes was a consequence of the more
unifi ed government he enjoyed while in offi ce. As of late 2012, President Obama
has vetoed only two pieces of legislation, refl ecting unifi ed government during his
fi rst two years in offi ce, and little legislation of consequence passed during the sec-
ond half of his term.
A president’s threats to veto legislation provide an additional source of power:
they allow the president to specify what kinds of proposals he is willing or unwill-
ing to accept from Congress. Legislators then know that they need to write a proposa l
that attracts two-thirds support in both houses or else accede to the president’s
demands. For example, during the 2007 debate over funding for the war in Iraq,
then-president Bush said he would veto any legislation that included a timetable
for troop withdrawal. Whether Bush was willing to follow through with his threat
is unclear, but the threat worked. The funding bill that ultimately passed Congress
did not include any sort of timetable. In this sense, the veto power can facilitateState of the Union An annual
speech in which the president
addresses Congress to report on
the condition of the country and
recommend policies.