pocket-veto

Pocket veto. Defn: The retention by the President of the United States of a bill unsigned so that it does not become a law, in virtue of the following constitutional provision (Const. Art. I., sec. 7, cl. 2): "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." Also, an analogous retention of a bill by a State governor.

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