Bush gives pocket veto to defense bill - Yahoo! News
CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush on Friday headed toward a constitutional confrontation with Congress over his effort to reject a sweeping defense bill.
ADVERTISEMENTBush announced he would scuttle the bill with a “pocket veto” — essentially, letting the bill die without his signature 10 days after he received it, or the end of Dec. 31.
But that can happen only when Congress is not in session; otherwise, the bill becomes law without a formal veto in 10 days. And the Senate maintains it is in session because it has held brief — sometimes only seconds long — meetings every two or three days with only one senator present.
The White House’s view is that Congress has adjourned.
Bush needs to simply veto the bill outright, if he opposes it that much. Otherwise, we are left to assume that he doesn’t care about the bill, but is seeking to use it to confront the Dem Cong’s strategy that is designed to prevent him from making recess appointments.
I’m okay with taking that on, by the way.
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