This week's question was, How many times has Congress successfully overridden a presidential veto since 2008?
You answered: 13.
The correct answer was two.
In the Wednesday, April 12, Brew, we discussed President Joe Biden's (D) second veto, which he issued on April 6, 2023. As of April 12, 2023, Congress has not overridden any of Biden's vetoes.
Since 2008, Congress has only overridden a presidential veto twice—once in 2016, under President Barack Obama (D), and in 2021, under President Donald Trump (R).
On September 28, 2016, the U.S. House voted 348-77 (with one member voting present) and the U.S. Senate voted 97-1 to override President Obama's veto of S.2040, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.[1][2] The Act amended The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to allow victims of international terrorism on U.S. soil to sue foreign governments.[3]
On January 1, 2021, the U.S. House voted 322-87 and the U.S. Senate voted 81-13 to override President Trump's veto of H.R.6395, the National Defense Authorization Act. [4] The $740.5 billion Act authorized spending for the military and set policy for the U.S. Department of Defense.[5]
Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers. The presidential veto override process is set forth in the Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution:
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Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law... |
The nation's first Congressional override of a presidential veto occurred on March 3, 1845, when Congress voted to override President John Tyler's (Whig Party) veto of an appropriation bill.[6]
As of April 12, President Biden has vetoed two bills.
Click here to read more about and stay up to date with Biden's vetoes. Click here to learn more about presidential vetoes in general.
Thanks for your response!
Footnotes
- ↑ Congress.gov, "S.2040 - Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act," accessed April 12, 2023
- ↑ Politico, "Congress hands Obama first veto override," September 28, 2016
- ↑ Norton Rose Fulbright, "Layperson's guide - Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act," December 2016
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.6395 - William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021," accessed April 12, 2023
- ↑ CNBC, "Trump vetoes colossal $740 billion defense bill, breaking with Republican-led Senate," December 24, 2020
- ↑ United States House of Representatives, "The First Congressional Override of a Presidential Veto," accessed April 12, 2023
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