<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (February 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (February 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> A veto--Latin for "I forbid"--is the power (used by an officer of the state, for example) to unilaterally stop an official action, especially the enactment of legislation . A veto can be absolute, as for instance in the United Nations Security Council, whose permanent members (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States of America) can block any resolution, or it can be limited, as in the legislative process of the United States, where a two - thirds vote in both the House and Senate may override a Presidential veto of legislation . A veto may give power only to stop changes (thus allowing its holder to protect the status quo), like the US legislative veto mentioned before, or to also adopt them (an "amendatory veto"), like the legislative veto of the Indian President, which allows him to propose amendments to bills returned to the Parliament for reconsideration . </P> <P> The concept of a veto body originated with the Roman consuls and tribunes . Either of the two consuls holding office in a given year could block a military or civil decision by the other; any tribune had the power to unilaterally block legislation passed by the Roman Senate . </P>

Which kind of majority is needed for the house and senate to override a presidential veto