# Can a President veto a declaration of war? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 15, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-veto-a-declaration-of-war/578423 "2011-04-15T00:26:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-veto-a-declaration-of-war/578423/21 "2015-07-17T02:50:37Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Can the President veto a constitutional amendment passed by both houses? This is the only case where a joint resolution is not subject to executive approval, because the Constitution explicitly carves out a separate procedure for constitutional amendments. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-veto-a-declaration-of-war/578423/22 "2015-07-17T02:55:49Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Except a constitutional amendment is a “resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives” is necessary. So why doesn’t it get presented to the President? A joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment requires a 2/3 supermajority in moth houses, which is the same bar for overriding a veto anyway. Therefore, presenting the resolution to the President would be pointless. See also [Hollingsworth v. Virginia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollingsworth_v._Virginia). ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-veto-a-declaration-of-war/578423/23 "2015-07-17T03:20:50Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > A joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment requires a 2/3 supermajority in moth houses, which is the same bar for overriding a veto anyway. Therefore, presenting the resolution to the President would be pointless. It wouldn’t be totally pointless. Some state legislatures can override vetoes by a simple majority, but still some vetoes end up sticking because the governor has enough clout to peel off a few votes. I don’t like _Hollingsworth v. Virginia_ (IMO every means every), but ultimately it’s a pretty minor issue. In 217 years it probably hasn’t mattered at all. Maybe the 22nd Amendment would have taken a few extra days. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-veto-a-declaration-of-war/578423/24 "2015-07-17T03:26:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Indeed, it would be hard to imagine a situation where Congress wanted a war and the President did not. Individual Congresscritters, maybe, but not the Congress as a whole. Both Houses. President McKinley didn’t want the war with Spain in 1898. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-veto-a-declaration-of-war/578423/25 "2015-07-17T04:24:59Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > A brutal regime of forced slave labor to add ten yards to all football fields in the country(with polite and heartfelt apologies afterwards for the forcing)? You mean add 30 yards; their endzones are 10 yards deeper too. > [@](#): > > A network of secret police and informers stamping out the forbidden $1 paper bills? I’ll avoid this by converting my $1s to $2s… > [@Ethilrist](#): > > Poutine for everybody! Oh well, there’s a dark side to everything… Why do we always have to pick on Canada in our wars? Why don’t we pick on someone our own size, like Grand Fenwick? We haven’t fought those guys in years… : pause : I mean, besides that there are more jokes we can make about Canada… : longer pause : Ok, never mind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-veto-a-declaration-of-war/578423.md?page=1)