What is the role of the President in the legislative process?

After Congress passes a bill, the President has 10 days, excluding Sundays and holidays, to consider and decide on the bill's fate. The President can sign the bill into public law, veto it or choose not to take any action. If the President vetoes the legislation, it is returned to Congress. Congress may accept the veto or try to override it. Overriding a veto requires two thirds of both chambers present and voting to override. If one chamber does not vote to override, the bill is dead. If the President chooses not to act on a bill while Congress is in session, the bill becomes a law without his signature. If he does not act on it and Congress has adjourned sine die or final adjournment, the bill has been pocket vetoed. If the President makes a statement at the occasion of the bills' veto or passage into law, the text appears in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and later, the Public Papers of the President. When he vetoes a bill, the message he sends to Congress is printed in the Congressional Record and is sometimes printed as a House Document.

 

Where can I locate Presidential Vetoes and Messages about Vetoes?

Veto messages can be vital to a legislative history. They can be listed in the Public Papers, and they appear in the following sources:

Online issues of both House and Senate Journals from 1789-1875, please see above, under Century of American Lawmaking from the Library of Congress.