# Pocket Veto A pocket veto occurs when the President takes no action on a bill within the ten-day signing window (Sundays excepted) *while Congress stands adjourned*, preventing the bill's return — so it dies without a veto message and, critically, **without any possibility of a congressional override**. It is the only absolute veto in the constitutional design (Art. I, § 7). If Congress is in session and the President does nothing, the opposite happens: the bill becomes law without signature. The boundary — what counts as an "adjournment" that prevents return, especially given pro forma sessions — has been litigated repeatedly and never fully settled, making end-of-session timing a genuine presidential weapon. ## The inverse in practice: the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (2026) The constitutional flip side played out on **July 10, 2026**, when [[Donald Trump]] withheld his signature from the [[21st Century ROAD to Housing Act]] — not because he opposed housing policy, but as leverage to force Congress to pass the [[SAVE Act]]. Because Congress remained in session, the bill became law at 11:59 PM without his signature. The episode is a textbook case of the mechanism working as designed: the President's refusal to sign became an impotent gesture rather than a lethal one, precisely because the adjournment condition for a pocket veto was not met. Documented in the [[How a Bill Becomes Law]] process map. See also [[Congress Hub]].