Return to Spender: The Electoral Connection’s Effect on Veto Challenges and Overrides

Abstract

AbstractThis paper uses assumptions about position taking and credit claiming to help predict when Congress will challenge and override a presidential veto. Using assumptions about position taking and credit claiming to generate measurable hypotheses, I find that vetoes on spending bills are 13.0 percentage points more likely to be challenged and 13.1 percentage points more likely to be overridden. Furthermore, spending vetoes are more likely to be overridden when congressional elections are nearing. The results confirm that the electoral connection not only explains individual behavior, but can also help predict institutional outcomes.