Presentment occurs after both chambers approve identical text. Signature enacts the bill; a regular veto returns it with objections; and inaction for ten days excluding Sundays lets it become law when Congress remains able to receive a return. Adjournment that prevents return can instead produce a pocket veto.

The federal president has no general line-item veto. The choice applies to the enrolled bill as a whole, although a credible veto threat can induce Congress to remove or revise provisions before presentment. That bargaining effect is real even when no formal veto occurs.

Start the constitutional clock with receipt of the enrolled bill and examine congressional availability at its end. A president's announcement cannot create a pocket veto when return remains possible, and a signing statement does not replace the statutory text or cancel selected provisions.

Video lesson: How a Bill Becomes a Law: Crash Course Government and Politics #9