Congressional Glossary
What is a veto override?
A veto override is Congress passing a bill into law over the president's veto. It takes a two-thirds vote in each chamber, one of the hardest thresholds in American government.
In one sentence
A veto override is Congress passing a bill into law over the president's veto. It takes a two-thirds vote in each chamber, one of the hardest thresholds in American government.
Votes needed: Two-thirds of each chamber: 290 of 435 in the House and 67 of 100 in the Senate at full attendance
What a veto override is
When the president vetoes a bill, Article I, Section 7 gives Congress the last word, at a price. If two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate repass the bill, it becomes law without the president's signature (constitution.congress.gov). The Constitution requires override votes to be taken by yeas and nays, so every override attempt is a recorded roll-call vote, name by name.
The two-thirds math
The threshold is two-thirds of members present and voting, not of the full membership. With every seat filled and every member voting, that means 290 of 435 in the House and 67 of 100 in the Senate. Absences move the target: 400 members voting puts the House bar at 267. Either way it is a supermajority that almost always requires dozens of members to vote against a president of their own party.
How rare overrides are
Presidents have vetoed more than 2,500 bills since 1789, and Congress has overridden 112 of them, by the Senate's official count (senate.gov). The most recent came on January 1, 2021, when the Senate voted 81 to 13 to complete the override of the veto of that year's defense authorization bill, after the House had voted 322 to 87. It was the first successful override since 2016.
After the override
An overridden bill becomes law immediately, exactly as if it had been signed. There is no further presidential move; the veto is spent. The one exception sits upstream: a pocket veto cannot be overridden at all, because the bill never returns to Congress in the first place.
Common questions
Two-thirds of those present and voting in each chamber, taken by recorded roll call. At full attendance that is 290 of 435 representatives and 67 of 100 senators. Both chambers must reach the mark; if either falls short, the veto stands and the bill dies.
Rarely. Congress has overridden 112 vetoes since 1789, out of more than 2,500, by the Senate's count. The most recent came in January 2021 on the annual defense bill, when the House voted 322 to 87 and the Senate 81 to 13 to enact it over the veto.