Approval of Bills after Adjournment of Congress

Abstract

The constitutional clause governing the approval of bills after the adjournment of Congress is as follows: “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.” The power of the President to sign after adjournment was not specifically established until 1932, in the case of Edwards v. United States (286 U. S. 482), and the failure of a bill unless signed within ten days after adjournment was not finally passed upon until 1929, in the Pocket Veto Case (279 U. S. 655).