Line Item Veto and Why Presidents Still Cannot Do It

Line Item Veto and Why Presidents Still Cannot Do It In the United States government, the line-item veto is the right of the chief executive to nullify or cancel individual provisions bills- usually budget appropriations bills- without vetoing the entire bill. Like regular vetoes, line-item vetoes are usually subject to the possibility of being overridden by the legislative body. While many state governors have line-item veto power, the President of the United States does not. The line item veto is exactly what you might do when your grocery tab runs to $20.00, but you only have $15.00 on you. Instead of adding to your total debt by paying with a credit card, you put back $5.00 worth of items you don’t really need. The line item veto - the power to not buy unneeded items - is a power U.S. presidents have long wanted but have just as long been denied. The line-item veto, sometimes called the partial veto, is a type of veto that would give the President of the United States the power to cancel an individual provision or provisions - line-items - in spending, or appropriations bills, without vetoing the entire bill. Like traditional presidential vetoes, a line-item veto could be overridden by Congress. Line Item Veto Pros and Cons Proponents of the line-item veto argue that it would allow the president to cut wasteful pork barrel or earmark spending from the federal budget.Opponents argue that it would continue a trend of increasing the power of the executive branch of government at the expense of the legislative branch. Opponents also argue, and the Supreme Court has agreed, that the line-item veto is unconstitutional. In addition, they say it would not reduce wasteful spending and could even make it worse. History of the Line-Item Veto Virtually every president since Ulysses S. Grant has asked Congress for line-veto power. President Clinton actually got but did not keep it long.On April 9, 1996, former President Bill Clinton signed the 1996 Line Item Veto Act, which had been championed through Congress by Senators Bob Dole (R-Kansas), and John McCain (R-Arizona), with the support of several Democrats. On August 11, 1997, President Clinton used the line-item veto for the first time to cut three measures from an expansive spending and taxation bill. At the bills signing ceremony, Clinton declared the selective veto a cost-cutting breakthrough and a victory over Washington lobbyists and special interest groups. From now on, presidents will be able to say no to wasteful spending or tax loopholes, even as they say yes to vital legislation, said President Clinton. But, from now on wasnt for long at all. Clinton used the line-item veto two more times in 1997, cutting one measure from the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and two provisions of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Almost immediately, groups aggrieved by the action, including the City of New York, challenged the line-item veto law in court. On February 12, 1998, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia declared the 1996 Line Item Veto Act unconstitutional, and the Clinton administration appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. In a 6-3 ruling issued on June 25, 1998, the Supreme Court, in the case of Clinton v. City of New York upheld the District Courts decision, overturning the 1996 Line Item Veto Act as a violation of the Presentment Clause, (Article I, Section 7), of the U.S. Constitution. By the time the Supreme Court took the power away from him, President Clinton has used the line-item veto to cut 82 items from 11 spending bills. While Congress overrode 38 of Clintons line-item vetoes, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the 44 line-item vetoes that stood saved the government almost $2 billion. Why is the Line-Item Veto Unconstitutional? The Constitutions Presentment Clause cited by the Supreme Court spells out the basic legislative process by declaring that any bill, before being presented to the president for his or her signature, must have been passed by both the Senate and the House. In using the line-item veto to delete individual measures, the president is actually amending bills, a legislative power granted exclusively to Congress by the Constitution. In the courts majority opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote: there is no provision in the Constitution that authorizes the president to enact, to amend or to repeal statutes. The court also held that the line-item veto violated the principles of the separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the federal government. In his concurring opinion, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote that the undeniable effects of the line-item veto were to enhance the Presidents power to reward one group and punish another, to help one set of taxpayers and hurt another, to favor one State and ignore another. Congressmen and Senators Object to Line-Item Veto Historically, most members of the U.S. Congress have opposed a constitutional amendment granting the president a permanent line-item veto. Lawmakers rightfully fear the power would enable the president to veto their earmark or â€Å"pork barrel† projects they have traditionally added to the appropriations bills of the annual federal budget. In this manner, the president could use the line-item veto to punish members of Congress who have opposed his or her policy, thus bypassing the separation of powers between the Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government.