A pocket veto occurs when the President neither signs nor vetoes a bill during the 10-day period specified by the Constitution, and Congress adjourns during that window, preventing the bill from being returned for a potential override. The bill dies. Unlike a regular veto — where Congress can override with two-thirds majorities in both chambers — a pocket veto cannot be overridden because there's nothing to vote on. Congress is no longer in session, the President took no formal action, and the bill simply expires.

The Constitutional Basis

Article I, Section 7 specifies: "If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law." That final clause is the pocket veto provision. When Congress adjourns and physically cannot receive the returned bill, the bill dies.

When a Pocket Veto Can Occur

A pocket veto is only possible when Congress adjourns within the 10-day window after a bill is presented to the President. The 10-day clock starts when the bill is formally delivered to the White House by the Congress. If Congress is in session for the full 10 days, the President must sign, veto, or let it become law without signature — a pocket veto isn't available.

The most common opportunity for a pocket veto is end-of-session legislation: bills that pass in the final days of a session and are transmitted to the President just before Congress adjourns. The President then has 10 days in which Congress isn't available to receive a returned bill.

The "Adjournment" Question

One contested question is whether an intersession adjournment — Congress ending one session and beginning another, as happens between December and January — triggers pocket veto availability. If the answer is yes, any bill presented to the President shortly before the holiday recess could be pocket vetoed.

Courts have been divided on this. The Supreme Court's 1929 decision in The Pocket Veto Case (279 U.S. 655) held that an adjournment between sessions does trigger pocket veto availability. But Kennedy v. Sampson (D.C. Circuit, 1974) held that an intrasession adjournment — a recess within a session — does not allow pocket vetoes if Congress has appointed an agent to receive the returned bill. Congress now routinely leaves officers available to receive presidential communications during recesses specifically to limit the window for pocket vetoes.

How Frequent Are Pocket Vetoes?

Pocket vetoes are less common than regular vetoes but have been used by most presidents. Franklin Roosevelt used pocket vetoes more than any other president — over 260 in total. In the modern era, pocket vetoes have become rarer because Congress's practices around adjournment have been specifically designed to avoid creating the conditions that allow them.

Presidents who want to signal displeasure without explicitly vetoing legislation — and without risking an override fight — sometimes use the pocket veto as a quiet disposal mechanism for bills they'd rather not formally reject or endorse.

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