Bush May Veto More Bills from New Congress

With Democrats now in control of Congress, President Bush may decide to exercise a legislative power he has used only once during his six years in office -- the veto.

Veto overrides not in the numbers
While the Democrats now enjoy a voting majority in both chambers of Congress they fall short of the number of votes needed to override a presidential veto. In the Senate, Democrats hold a 51-49 majority, including independents Joe Lieberman and James Jeffords, who tend to vote with the Democrats. In the House, the Democratic majority is a clearer cut 233-202. However, overriding a veto requires a two-thirds majority vote of members present and voting in both chambers. Assuming all 100 senators and 435 representatives show up and vote, overriding a veto requires 67 votes in the Senate and 290 in the House. As a result, a bill needs very strong support from both parties in Congress to override a veto.

Since George Washington in 1789, U.S. presidents have issued a combined 2,551 vetoes, only 106 of which have been overridden.

What might he veto?
President Bush’s only veto came last July on a bill that would have expanded government funding for embryonic-stem cell research. Congress failed to override the veto, despite giving the bill bipartisan support. Supporters of the bill plan to reintroduce it this spring and there is no reason to think President Bush will veto it again.

Along with the stem cell research bill, President Bush might veto any bills that would reduce funding for the Iraq war, increase the federal minimum wage or end tax cuts.

Also See:
Bush Vetoes Stem Cell Bill
A Presidential Veto Message to Congress