Washington, D.C. – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today endorsed President Bush’s proposal for a line-item veto, which would enable the President to strike specific earmarks from appropriations and tax bills. 

 “With a line-item veto, the president could help get special-interest and pork-barrel spending under control,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “Coming on the heels of last year’s record pork-barrel spending, this proposal could not be more timely.”        

The most recent law to provide a line item veto took effect on January 1, 1997 but was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1998.  It allowed the president to cancel specific spending items and certain tax benefits from the final versions of legislation.  Congress could reinstate the items with a two-thirds vote.  Then-President Bill Clinton vetoed 82 items, saving $2 billion over five years.  Under the Bush Administration’s proposal, Congress would accept or reject the president’s proposed revisions with a simple majority vote. 

The number of pork-barrel projects in the federal budget has skyrocketed from 1,439 in fiscal 1995 to 13,997 in fiscal 2005, an increase of 873 percent.  Among the $27.3 billion of pork identified in the 2005 Congressional Pig Book were $6.3 million for wood utilization research and $2 million to buy back the USS Sequoia Presidential Yacht.  The 2006 Congressional Pig Book will be released on April 5. 

Earmarks were at the heart of the lobbying/bribery scandal involving former Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.). Members of Congress often direct earmarks to groups that donate heavily to their re-election campaigns.       

On February 28, the Senate Rules Committee approved the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006 (S. 2349), which would allow points of order to be raised against earmarks added in conference and require disclosure for the member sponsoring a specific project.  CCAGW favors a complete ban on earmarks added in conference, among other budget reforms.     

“The line-item veto is just one element in earmark reform, and earmark reform is just one element in spending restraint,” Schatz said.  “However, the line-item veto would add an important check to a budget process that is tainted by waste, abuse, and favoritism.  Congressional leaders should move quickly on this proposal.”

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