Simple question: how credible is Obama's recent veto threat, and what effect does it have in the context of veto bargaining? Three points: 1) In general, I don't think a veto threat is very credible for the President this Congress. The Senate is controlled by the Democrats, and thus any legislation coming out of Congress automatically has something of a Democratic stamp-of-approval on it. There's just no way around this. Everyone is now attuned to the idea that 41 Senators can stop legislation. So if 60 Senators sign-on, the perception is that you have a bipartisan deal, and it's hard to imagine the President actually vetoing any legislation that is described that way. And if he can't veto it, then the veto threats are empty, and veto bargaining should be theoretically worthless. It's just cheap talk.
On the credibility of veto threats
On the credibility of veto threats
On the credibility of veto threats
Simple question: how credible is Obama's recent veto threat, and what effect does it have in the context of veto bargaining? Three points: 1) In general, I don't think a veto threat is very credible for the President this Congress. The Senate is controlled by the Democrats, and thus any legislation coming out of Congress automatically has something of a Democratic stamp-of-approval on it. There's just no way around this. Everyone is now attuned to the idea that 41 Senators can stop legislation. So if 60 Senators sign-on, the perception is that you have a bipartisan deal, and it's hard to imagine the President actually vetoing any legislation that is described that way. And if he can't veto it, then the veto threats are empty, and veto bargaining should be theoretically worthless. It's just cheap talk.