INS v. Chadha (1983)

Jagdish Chadha, a student born in Kenya and holding a British passport, overstayed his visa. In 1974 an immigration judge suspended his deportation on hardship grounds, as the Immigration and Nationality Act allowed. The same act let either chamber of Congress veto such suspensions by resolution, and in December 1975 the House, without debate or a recorded vote, passed a resolution overturning Chadha's suspension and those of five others. Chadha challenged the House's action.

On June 23, 1983, the Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 that the one-house veto was unconstitutional. Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote that when Congress acts to change the legal rights of persons outside the legislative branch, it is legislating, and legislation must follow the Constitution's procedure: passage by both chambers and presentment to the President for signature or veto. A resolution by one house, never presented to the President, failed both requirements.

Justice Byron White's dissent noted that the decision invalidated provisions in nearly two hundred statutes, more laws than the Court had struck down in its entire history. Legislative vetoes had let Congress delegate broad power to agencies while keeping a check on its use, in areas from war powers to arms sales to regulations. After Chadha, Congress turned to joint resolutions requiring the President's signature, as in the Congressional Review Act and the National Emergencies Act, and to informal arrangements, including committee approval requirements that agencies often honor in practice.