[originaltext] We know then that in the US, it’s the job of Congress to propo

We know then that in the US, it’s the job of Congress to propose new laws, which we call bills, and perhaps to modify these bills and then write on them. But even if the bill is passed in Congress, it still doesn’t become a law until the President has a chance to review it, too. And if it’s not to the President’s liking, the bill can be vetoed or killed in either of two ways. One is by a veto message. The President has ten days to veto the bill by returning it to Congress, along with the message explaining why it’s being rejected. This keeps the bill from becoming a law unless overwhelming majorities of both Houses of Congress vote to over-right the President’s veto. Sometimes they do that. Often, lawmakers simply revise the vetoed bill and pass it again. This time, in the form the President is less likely to object to, and less likely to want to veto. The other way the President can kill a bill is by pocket veto. Here’s what happens. If the President doesn’t sign the bill within ten days, and Congress ajourns during that time, then the bill will not become law. Notice that it is only at the end of an entire session of Congress that the pocket veto can be used, not just whenever Congress takes a shorter break, say, for a summer vacation. After a pocket veto, that particular bill is dead. If a lawmaker in Congress wants to push the matter in their next session, they’ll have to start all over with a brand new version of the bill.