The President and signing a Bill
May 19th 2010 10:37
I took a posting to talk about the Nominating of a Supreme Court Justice so back to the discussion on “How a Bill becomes Law”. The probable last step in the process usually happens after both the House and Senate have approved the bill. I said usually because both branches of the government are to approve the identical bill. As we know both the House and the Senate approved and passed different versions of the Health Care Reform bill when it was signed into law. “No Republicans supported the bill in either the House or Senate, and Democratic leaders needed a separate bill that calls for changes in the new law in order to get enough support in the House to pass the measure.
The Senate started debate on the accompanying House bill later Tuesday, with Republican opponents promising to use every possible parliamentary tool or technique to undermine it. (CNN, 2010)” (1)
An example of when the procedure followed the usual bill passing process, “However when George W Bush signed the expanded GI bill benefits into law both the House and the Senate approved a matching bill there were no additions or corrections to be made as Leo Slone (2008) wrote in Stars and Stripes “Just minutes ago, the president spoke at the White House after signing the war supplemental with expanded GI bill benefits into law.” (2)
From President Bush’s comment after signing the bill into law we learned that this bill had the support of both parties:
"We also owe a debt of gratitude to our nation's military families. They endure sleepless nights, and the daily struggle of caring for children while a loved one is serving far from home. We have a responsibility to provide for them, so I'm pleased that the bill we signed today includes an expansion of the GI Bill.”… (2)
"This legislation will make it easier for our troops to transfer unused education benefits to their spouses and children. It will help us to recruit and reward the best military on the face of the Earth. It will help us meet our responsibilities to those who support our troops every day, America's great military families." (2)
Bush singled out Sens. Jim Webb and John Warner in his comments, two of the chief proponents of the reworked military education benefits, as well as Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Richard Burr, all of whom had backed a competing plan which contained the transferability language.”(2)
Then the enrolled bill (an enrolled bill is the final version passed in identical form by both chambers (with people believing that the correct procedure was not followed when signing the Health Care Reform Bill into Law that is why some Senators and Congressmen feel the Law is unconstitutional) is sent to the President for his signature. Once the President signs the bill it becomes law. If the President does not take an action on a bill for ten day and Congress is in session then the bill becomes law automatically. This is known as a pocket veto, Glenn Thrush posted a blog piece titled “CORRECTION: House SUSTAINS Obama "pocket veto". “The House sustained President Obama's pocket veto of a stopgap spending bill on Wednesday -- contrary to my earlier post and link -- in which I hideously misread the legislation and inverted the vote count -- to conclude the veto had been overridden.
President Obama’s first veto easily withstood a House attempt to override it on Wednesday.
For those unaware the president had even vetoed a bill emanating from the Democratic Congress, don’t worry. The measure was a stop-gap spending measure for the Pentagon that became unnecessary when the president instead signed the annual Pentagon money bill in time. He then vetoed the five-day, interim bill as unneeded legislation.
Even though the entire issue was moot, his action prompted the House to go through the veto override process because Congress and the executive branch are locked in a long-running Constitutional feud over a president’s ability to issue a “pocket veto” by failing to sign legislation but not sending it back to Congress.”3
If the President doesn’t like a bill that has been sent to him he can veto it. “A presidential veto is the rejection of a bill passed by the majority votes of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. While Congress can vote to override a presidential veto, causing the bill to become law without the president's approval, this is rarely done. It is more likely that when there is a threat of presidential veto is sufficient motivation for Congress to modify the bill prior to its final passage” (Longley, About.com) (4).
References
1. Really Long Link
main/index.html.
2. Really Long Link
3. Really Long Link
Obama_pocket_veto.html
4. Really Long Link
An example of when the procedure followed the usual bill passing process, “However when George W Bush signed the expanded GI bill benefits into law both the House and the Senate approved a matching bill there were no additions or corrections to be made as Leo Slone (2008) wrote in Stars and Stripes “Just minutes ago, the president spoke at the White House after signing the war supplemental with expanded GI bill benefits into law.” (2)
From President Bush’s comment after signing the bill into law we learned that this bill had the support of both parties:
"We also owe a debt of gratitude to our nation's military families. They endure sleepless nights, and the daily struggle of caring for children while a loved one is serving far from home. We have a responsibility to provide for them, so I'm pleased that the bill we signed today includes an expansion of the GI Bill.”… (2)
Bush singled out Sens. Jim Webb and John Warner in his comments, two of the chief proponents of the reworked military education benefits, as well as Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Richard Burr, all of whom had backed a competing plan which contained the transferability language.”(2)
Then the enrolled bill (an enrolled bill is the final version passed in identical form by both chambers (with people believing that the correct procedure was not followed when signing the Health Care Reform Bill into Law that is why some Senators and Congressmen feel the Law is unconstitutional) is sent to the President for his signature. Once the President signs the bill it becomes law. If the President does not take an action on a bill for ten day and Congress is in session then the bill becomes law automatically. This is known as a pocket veto, Glenn Thrush posted a blog piece titled “CORRECTION: House SUSTAINS Obama "pocket veto". “The House sustained President Obama's pocket veto of a stopgap spending bill on Wednesday -- contrary to my earlier post and link -- in which I hideously misread the legislation and inverted the vote count -- to conclude the veto had been overridden.
President Obama’s first veto easily withstood a House attempt to override it on Wednesday.
For those unaware the president had even vetoed a bill emanating from the Democratic Congress, don’t worry. The measure was a stop-gap spending measure for the Pentagon that became unnecessary when the president instead signed the annual Pentagon money bill in time. He then vetoed the five-day, interim bill as unneeded legislation.
Even though the entire issue was moot, his action prompted the House to go through the veto override process because Congress and the executive branch are locked in a long-running Constitutional feud over a president’s ability to issue a “pocket veto” by failing to sign legislation but not sending it back to Congress.”3
If the President doesn’t like a bill that has been sent to him he can veto it. “A presidential veto is the rejection of a bill passed by the majority votes of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. While Congress can vote to override a presidential veto, causing the bill to become law without the president's approval, this is rarely done. It is more likely that when there is a threat of presidential veto is sufficient motivation for Congress to modify the bill prior to its final passage” (Longley, About.com) (4).
References
1. Really Long Link
main/index.html.
2. Really Long Link
3. Really Long Link
Obama_pocket_veto.html
4. Really Long Link
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