US leader George W Bush is preparing to exercise his presidential veto for only the second time since the move has been prompted by the approval by Congress of a bill linking war funding to a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
The Democrat-controlled Congress passed the bill narrowly despite Bush's repeated threats to veto it.
Once the bill is presented to Bush, he will have 10 days in which to return it to Congress with his objections but is expected to do so sooner.
Both the House and Senate will then have to muster a two-thirds majority in favour of the bill if they are to override the veto.
Given the Democrats' slim majorities they are highly unlikely to succeed, meaning the legislation will have to be revised and approved in both Houses again before returning to the president.
His only previous veto came last year, when he refused to sign into law a controversial bill which would have lifted a ban on federal funding for new embryonic stem cell research.
In waiting until the fifth year of his presidency to do so, Bush became the first President to complete four years in office without a veto since John Quincy Adams in the 1820s.
Former President Bill Clinton used his power of regular veto 36 times, twice to impede bills passed by Congress to ban a late-term abortion procedure. Only two of his vetoes were over-turned by Congress.
The current president's father, George H W Bush, wielded the power of direct veto on 29 occasions and had 15 pocket vetoes.
On the other hand, Sabato believes Bush's threat to veto the war funding bill played into the Democrats' hands because it allowed them to propose legislation that they knew could never be passed but which was popular with supporters. - DDNews India
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