The constitutional text

Article I · Section 7

Select any highlighted phrase to understand what it means.

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively, 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

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Source: National Constitution Center edition. Original wording is preserved; commentary explains historical and superseded provisions.

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Article I, Section 7, Clause 3b

Equivalent action receives equivalent checks

Current text
and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

What it means

Covered joint orders, resolutions, and votes require presidential approval or a two-thirds repassage in both chambers. The same rules and limitations applicable to bills govern that process.

Historical setting

This completes the safeguard against avoiding the qualified veto through different legislative labels. Constitutional procedure must be robust enough to survive ordinary drafting choices.

What it does

The veto and override rules attach to the relevant joint legislative action. The clause therefore reinforces a structural requirement rather than adding a new substantive subject over which Congress may legislate.

Debate & interpretation

The broader lesson is that procedural limits would be weak if the regulated institution could define its own exceptions by terminology. Genuine exceptions must come from constitutional authority, not from convenience.

A common misreading

This provision does not create a free-standing congressional power to make any subject lawful merely by satisfying the voting procedure.

Think it through

Why must both the subject of a law and the procedure for enacting it satisfy the Constitution?

Follow the connection

Sources & further reading

Original Madison Center commentary. Explanations distinguish the text, historical context, and interpretive disagreements.

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