SECURE FENCE ACT REVISITED….Is George Bush going to pocket veto the Secure Fence Act? Ed Morrissey made a phone call and says no:
Congress has not formally sent the bill to the President. That means the clock has not started for his signature. The 10-day period starts only after Congress formally prints and delivers the bill for the President to sign into law.
Why has Congress waited? The Secure Fence Act, which requires that the border barrier be constructed, is a very high priority for Republican leadership in both chambers. They and the White House want to schedule the signing for what they see as the maximum impact to the midterm elections. This means waiting for other stories to fall off the front pages.
This actually sounds pretty plausible to me, since it’s hard to imagine that even Bush could be stubborn enough to betray his already rebellious base by vetoing this legislation. On the other hand, if they’re really serious about “waiting for other stories to fall off the front pages,” he could end up pocket vetoing the thing just by mistake…..
