American Government and Politics Today, Brief Edition, 2014-2015

232 PART THREE • insTiTuTions of AmERiCAn GovERnmEnT

Pocket Veto

A special veto exercised

by the chief executive

after a legislative body has

adjourned. Bills not signed

by the chief executive die

after a specified period

of time.

Line-Item Veto

The power of an executive

to veto individual lines or

items within a piece of

legislation without vetoing

the entire bill.

Patronage

The practice of rewarding

faithful party workers and

followers with government

employment and contracts.

Congress. This is called a pocket veto. If Congress wishes the bill to be reconsidered,

the bill must be reintroduced during the following session.

Presidents employed the veto power infrequently until after the Civil War, but it has been

used with increasing vigor since then. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, how-

ever, made little or no use of the veto during the periods when their parties controlled

Congress.

The line-item veto. Ronald Reagan lobbied strenuously for Congress to give another

tool to the president—the line-item veto, which would allow the president to veto

specific spending provisions of legislation that was passed by Congress. Reagan saw the

line-item veto as the only way that he could control overall congressional spending. In

1996, Congress passed the Line Item Veto Act, which provided for the line-item veto.

President Clinton used the line-item veto on several occasions, but the act was challenged

in court. In 1998, by a six-to-three vote, the United States Supreme Court agreed with the

veto’s opponents and overturned the act. The Court stated that “there is no provision in

the Constitution that authorizes the president to enact, to amend, or to repeal statutes.”^9

Congress’s Power to override Presidential vetoes. A veto is a clear-cut indication

of the president’s dissatisfaction with congressional legislation. Congress, however, can

override a presidential veto, although it rarely exercises this power. Consider that two-

thirds of the members of each chamber who are present must vote to override the presi-

dent’s veto in a roll-call vote. This means that if only one-third plus one of the members

voting in one of the chambers of Congress do not agree to override the veto, the veto

holds. In American history, only about 7 percent of all vetoes have been overridden.

Party Chief and Politician

Presidents are by no means above political partisanship, and one of their many roles is that

of chief of party. Although the Constitution says nothing about the function of the presi-

dent within a political party (the mere concept of political parties was abhorrent to most

of the authors of the Constitution), today presidents are the actual leaders of their parties.

As party leader, the president chooses the national committee chairperson and can

try to discipline party members who fail to support presidential policies. One way of

exerting political power within the party is through patronage—appointing individuals

to government or public jobs. This power was more extensive in the past, before the

establishment of the civil service in 1883, but the president still retains important patron-

age power. As we noted earlier, the president can appoint several thousand individuals to

jobs in the cabinet, the White House, and the federal regulatory agencies.

Perhaps the most important partisan role that the president has played in

the late 1900s and early 2000s has been that of fund-raiser. The president is

able to raise large sums for the party through appearances at dinners, speak-

ing engagements, and other social occasions. President Clinton may have

9. Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998).

President Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) fought

hard for the line-item veto. Why did the Supreme Court overturn

the Line Item Veto Act? (AP Photo)

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