Congress passes a controversial bill with a Senate vote of 60–40, which the president then vetoes. Ten senators state that they will not seek to override this veto. What recourse does Congress have to check the president's power?
a)using public opinion to make the president rescind the veto
b)none because there is no majority to overturn the veto
c)taking the case to the Supreme Court to decide
d)overriding the veto with the votes it has
is it b?
No. The Congress needs a 2/3 vote in each house to override the president's veto.
40/60 = 2/3
what about when it says "Ten senators state that they will not seek to override this veto."
But 2/3 of the Senate has already passed this bill. Doesn't that make d the answer?
i will do some more research, but you're probably right, much appreciated =)
No, the correct answer is D) overriding the veto with the votes it has.
When the president vetoes a bill, Congress has the power to override the veto if they can gather enough support. In order to do so, they need a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. This means they would need at least 67 votes in the Senate to override the president's veto.
In the scenario you provided, Congress passed the bill with a Senate vote of 60-40, which means they do not currently have the necessary votes to override the veto. However, it's important to note that the decision to seek an override is a strategic one, and it is possible for Congress to try to gather more support or change the bill in order to convince more senators to vote in favor of the override.
Option A) is not a direct recourse. While public opinion can certainly influence the political landscape and potentially put pressure on the president to reconsider their veto, it is not a legal or procedural check on the president's power.
Option C) is also incorrect. Taking the case to the Supreme Court is not a recourse for checking the president's veto power. The Supreme Court's role is to interpret the Constitution and decide on the constitutionality of laws, but it does not have the authority to overturn a presidential veto.
Therefore, the correct answer is D) overriding the veto with the votes it has, although in this scenario, it appears that Congress does not currently have the required votes to override the veto.