Congressional Quarterly reports that Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) plans to withhold the Ethics and Lobbying Reform Bill (S. 1) from President Bush until the Senate is once again in session. The idea behind this move is to ensure that the President does not utilize his ability to perform a “pocket veto” on the bill. The Constitution provides that if the Congress sends the President a bill to sign during a period of adjournment that he can let it go unsigned for 10 days in order to perform a veto on it. This “pocket veto” is not able to be challenged by the Congress. The Bush Administration, and subsequently several Conservative members of Congress, dislike much of the language that was altered and adopted in the bill regarding earmarks. The Ethics Bill passed the Senate by a vote of 83 to 14.
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