(Washington, D.C.) – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today urged the adoption of a constitutional amendment granting the power of a line item veto to the president.  Sens. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) and George Allen (R-Va.) introduced the amendment today on the Senate floor.  The Line Item Veto Act took effect on January 1, 1997 but was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1998. 

“The clearest answer to the Supreme Court’s decision is a constitutional amendment granting line item veto power to the president,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “Such power would allow the President to cancel wasteful spending slipped into appropriations bills without having to veto the entire bill, shut down federal agencies, or disrupt major federal programs.”  

The previous Line Item Veto Act allowed the president to cancel (but not reduce) any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority provided in an appropriation, any item of direct new spending, or certain limited tax benefits contained in any law.  The constitutional amendment would go a step further by granting the president the ability to either eliminate or reduce appropriations in any bill passed by Congress.

Congress funds all executive agencies and departments through 12 appropriations bills.  As a consequence, the president cannot block a specific project without vetoing the entire bill.  He must either approve spending or risk disrupting major programs and shutting down whole departments.  Presidents seldom choose to exercise the veto in such circumstances.  CAGW’s 2005 Congressional Pig Book identified 13,997 pork projects, costing $27.3 billion in fiscal 2005.

“The Pig Book contains thousands of examples of what could be eliminated by a line item veto.  The absence of such power is one of many structural flaws in the budget process that favors narrow interests at the expense of taxpayers and the general good,” Schatz said.  “The line item veto would make both the legislative and executive branches more accountable for our tax dollars.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.