Politics

AP EXPLAINS: Obama’s Presidential Veto Power

Published

12 years ago

January 14, 2015

In this Jan. 13. 2015 file photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio listens at left as President Barack Obama speaks to media as he meets with bipartisan, bicameral leadership of Congress to discuss a wide range of issues, in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama has vetoed just two measures in his six years in the White House, the fewest by any U.S. president since the 1880s. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has vetoed just two measures in his six years in the White House, the fewest by any U.S. president since the 1880s. But since the Republicans have assumed control of both houses of Congress this month for the first time in his presidency, Obama has threatened to veto five more. Here’s a brief explanation of the president’s constitutional power to veto legislation and how Congress can respond:

THE ISSUES:

Legislation facing a White House veto if it successfully passes through Congress would:

—Force construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry Canada’s tar sands oil across the United States to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico.

—Change the definition of fulltime work from 30 hours to 40 hours per week under Obama’s federal health care program, meaning employers would be obligated to extend health care coverage to fewer employers.

—Roll back regulations on financial institutions put in place after the near-collapse of the U.S. economy in 2008.

—Roll back Obama’s executive action giving temporary relief from deportation to about 4 million immigrants in the country illegally, along with permits allowing them to work legally in the U.S.

—Blunt federal agencies’ ability to set regulations.

THE PRESIDENTIAL VETO:

The U.S. Constitution empowers the president to block legislation from becoming a law by refusing to sign it. The president has 10 days either to sign the bill into law or to send it back with an explanation of his veto. Congress may override a veto by bringing the measure to a new vote that passes with a two-thirds super-majority in both houses. Fewer than 5 percent of presidential vetoes have been overridden by Congress. Often the mere threat of a veto in advance of passage by Congress is enough to force a rewriting of the bill.

THE DOG NAMED VETO:

The first president, George Washington, exercised the first veto — of a measure that would have increased the number of seats for northern states in the House of Representatives. President Andrew Jackson later popularized them, most famously in 1832 as part of a series of moves to shut down the Bank of the United States. President James Garfield named his dog Veto, an unsubtle warning to Congress that was never carried out: He was assassinated in 1881 after serving just 200 days, and remains the last president never to issue a veto.

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Oakland Post: Week of July 29 – August 4, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 29 – August 4, 2026

Published

20 hours ago

August 1, 2026

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Black History

OP-ED: ‘The Trusted Messenger’ and the Black Vote

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Now, as we approach one of the most important Midterm elections in the history of this nation, it appears that, once again, the Black Press will be expected to carry the message about voter turnout, while political and campaign dollars go to the White mainstream media.

Published

4 days ago

July 29, 2026

bpusa-syndication

It is a well-established fact that the Black Press is and always has been the “Trusted Messenger” of the Black community. With that being said, it is also very interesting that when many political organizations and donors decided to support Voter Registration and Get Out The Vote, those donors gave their dollars predominantly to Black organizations like the Urban League, the NAACP, the League of Voters, and other nonprofit groups. Those groups will prepare and send out press releases about such voter participation efforts since Black people were responsible primarily for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

What is most interesting is that those press releases rarely find their way onto CNN or the major news networks. Those press releases and calls to Black voter participation are carried in the Black Press. However, the dollars that support those press releases being written, nor the ads that carry the message of those releases, reach the Black Press. Historically, the dollars behind those messages do not find their way to the very Black Press that carries those messages.

Now, as we approach one of the most important Midterm elections in the history of this nation, it appears that, once again, the Black Press will be expected to carry the message about voter turnout, while political and campaign dollars go to the White mainstream media.

Those who are spending the billions of dollars that will go to Campaign Finance appear to have forgotten that elections are won and lost on a single vote.

Now is the time to remind the candidates, the political Initiatives and Propositions that will appear on the ballots across this nation, that the Black Vote must not be taken for granted. It does not belong to any particular political party or interest group. It can not be judged by whether it exists in a Blue or Red State.

The Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and supporters of Initiatives should not assume that our votes are unimportant.

Elections are won on a single vote.

The United States Supreme Court in Reynolds vs. Sims, 1964. That case established the ‘One Person, One Vote” rule. The rule in that case made it mandatory to base legislative seats on population within districts rather than on geography, and guaranteed Equal Protection coverage under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

That principle has not been abolished, and neither should we act as if our one vote does not count. Let us not forget our own values, and we look toward the Midterm elections. The “Trusted Messenger” can make the difference.