Obama: Veto Might Be More Common With GOP Congress

President Obama’s veto pen might get more active come January.

In a wide-ranging interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, President Obama warned that the new Republican majorities on Capitol Hill could mean more chances to defend his accomplishments and priorities than has so far been the case during his time in the White House.

“There are going to be some areas where we disagree and, you know, I haven’t used the veto pen very often since I’ve been in office, partly because legislation that I objected to was typically blocked in the Senate,” Obama said.

“Now I suspect there are going to be some times where I’ve got to pull that pen out,” he continued. “And I’m going to defend gains that we’ve made in health care; I’m going to defend gains that we’ve made on environment and clean air and clean water.”

Asked if he could do anything to improve his relationship with Congress, Obama acknowledged that there is “always” room for improvement “in every aspect of my job,” but also pointed to what he sees as a clearer need for Republicans to make their own overtures given their new status controlling both the House and Senate.

But certain points of view – particularly on immigration – may be impossible to reconcile with his own. Should they drive a Republican agenda in 2015, veto threats might become far more common. Pointing to Iowa Republican Steve King as an example of somebody he “fundamentally disagree[s]” with, he said that

If your view is that immigrants are either fundamentally bad to the country or that we actually have the option of deporting 11 million immigrants, regardless of the disruptions, regardless of the cost, and that that is who we are as Americans, I reject that.

The question, Obama told Inskeep, is whether he will be able to work with more reasonable members of the GOP who “genuinely believe immigration is good for our country” and want reform based on “realism, practicality and insist[ing] on accountability from those who are here illegally.”

But incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) responded to Obama’s comments by putting the onus on the president to be more accommodating:

Bipartisan jobs bills will see the light of day and will make it to the President’s desk, and he’ll have to make decisions about ideology versus creating jobs for the middle class. There’s a lot we can get done if the President puts his famous pen to use signing bills rather than vetoing legislation his liberal allies don’t like.

Obama has only used his veto power twice in his six years as president. His predecessor, George W. Bush, only issued twelve vetoes during his two terms. But both men had either friendly or split Congresses for their first six years, offering fewer opportunities for veto confrontations.

Obama: Veto Might Be More Common With GOP Congress