This meticulously researched and engaging book unravels the complex skein of cases in which the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts have interpreted the scope of the so-called “pocket veto,” which permits the president to disapprove a bill by not signing it or by returning it when Congress is not in session. Lurie uses these cases as a prism through which to explore “ongoing legal issues concerning separation of powers—a never-ending source of constitutional friction” (151–152). The book’s title is unduly modest because nearly one-third of the book explores cases between 1936 and 1987.
Lurie focuses on Okanogan Tribe et al. v. United States (1929), in which the Court held that a bill does not become law if a president is unable to return it to Congress because Congress is not in session, even if a Congress has not permanently adjourned. Although the Court’s decision addressed only the pocket-veto...