Republican and Democratic budget leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are proposing to give the president line-item veto power, something that’s been discussed, and tried, in the past. According to current law, if the president of the United States objects to part of a law, his only option is to veto the entire law. A line-item veto would give him the ability to veto specific parts of a bill while approving the rest. Forty-four of the fifty state governors already have this power.

 

The two top members of the House Budget Committee, Republican chairman Paul Ryan and ranking Democrat Chris Van Hollen, have authored the Expedited Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2011. Under the plan, the president within 45 days of receiving an appropriations bill from Congress could inform lawmakers which spending proposals he wants to cut. The House and Senate would then vote on the proposed cuts, all at once, with no amendments allowed.

 

During the 1990s, the GOP-led Congress teamed up with President Bill Clinton to approve a more comprehensive line-item veto plan that was signed into law in April 1996. But opponents challenged the legislation in court, and in June 1998 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 vote, ruled it was unconstitutional.

 

The new bill has been approved by the budget committee and now will be reviewed by the House Rules Committee.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Congress Tries Again to Hand President a Line-Item Veto (by Ben Pershing, Washington Post)