Veto Power of the President

Report Outline
The President and the Majority
Origin and Early Use of Veto Power
Conversion of Veto into Power of Revision
Special Focus

The President and the Majority

Major Republican Bills in Danger of Veto

The Threat of presidential veto hangs over at least three pieces of legislation which have a high place on the program of the new Republican majority in Congress. The measures in jeopardy are (1) the bill to outlaw portal-to-portal pay suits and to restrict certain other types of claims under federal wage-hour statutes, (2) the income tax reduction bill, and (3) the omnibus labor bill now pending before the House.

The portal-to-portal bill was passed by the House, Feb. 28, by the overwhelming vote of 345 to 56, and by the Senate, Mar. 21, 64 to 24. It has not yet reached the White House, but Sen. Lucas (Ill.), Democratic whip, gave warning when the bill was under consideration in the Senate that “when President Truman gets hold of this bill, it will come back here with his veto.”

If the Senate accepts the income tax reduction bill in anything like the form in which it was approved by the House, Mar. 27, a return of the bill without the President's signature is regarded as certain. Truman said in his budget message, Jan. 11, that there was “no justification now for tax reduction.” And in his Economic Report, Jan. 8, he said: “In the present economic situation it is clear that it would be unsound fiscal policy to reduce taxes.” The House vote for passage of the tax reduction bill—273 to 137—was one short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a veto.