Line-item Veto

A legislative bill which has been passed by both the houses of the United States Congress has to be approved by the President for it to become a law. When this bill is produced in front of the President, he has the right to raise objection and prohibit or reject the same. There also exist some circumstances wherein only a part of the bill is deemed undesired, and removing the undesired part can solve the problem instead of rejecting the entire bill as a whole. While no such power rests in the hands of the US President as of today, the much talked about concept of line-item veto, which allows the President to disapprove the undesired part of a particular legislative bill, seems to be quite promising - at least on the paper. Line-item veto is considered to be one of the most controversial issues in American politics, and going through some facts about it will tell you exactly why it is so.

What is a Line-item Veto?

Going by the technically correct definition, line-item veto is a provision which gives the President the power to strike off a part of the bill instead of vetoing the entire bill. This power is quite popular at the state level in the United States, with the governors of several states using it for legislative enactments. The Presidents of the United States though have not been so lucky with most of them having to request for the same with no avail. In the United States of America, the line-item veto is mostly taken into consideration for budget appropriations bill. Even though it is a special power, it is as vulnerable to legislative override as a regular veto is.

Except for the six states (Indiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Vermont to be precise), all other states of the USA give their governors the power of line-item veto in some or the other form. A sneak peek at the American history also reveals that the President of the Confederate States also had a similar power using which he could disapprove any appropriation in the same bill. The US Constitution though has no such provisions for the President of the United States. There have been quite a few instances of the US Congress denying this power to the President, and when the Congress did give it to President Bill Clinton in 1996, the US Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional and stripped the President of this power.

The list of US Presidents who have backed the concept of line-item veto is quite lengthy, and includes some prominent names like President Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, etc. Bill Clinton though, did enjoy this power for a brief period of two years when the Line-Item Veto Act of 1996 was passed by the US Congress. Within a span of two years, it was challenged on legal basis and a US District Court stripped President Clinton of this power by ruling that unilateral amendment or repeal of only parts of statutes violated the Presentment Clause of the US Constitution on 12th February, 1998. This ruling by the District Court was eventually upheld by the US Supreme Court on 25th June, 1998.

Pros and Cons

The concept of line-item veto has been a subject of debate in the United States for quite sometime now. While those people who oppose this power allege that it would give the President more power over federal spending than what the Congress has. Those who are well versed with the US Constitution also argue that it would give the President de facto legislative authority of altering the law - something which violates the principles laid down by the US Constitution. On the other hand, those who support the line-item veto power argue that it would make the President more accountable for federal expenditure. They also put forth the fact that it would help the nation do away with the controversial rider amendments that are passed by the legislators by inserting them in important bills.

It is but obvious that the legislators who intend to pass controversial rider amendments by incorporating them in legislative bills will oppose the Line Item Act which would disallow them to go ahead with their vested interests. This is exactly the reason why it is opposed even though it is as vulnerable to override as the Presidential veto is. Those who oppose it also come up with arguments like nobody can guarantee the fact that the President will not abuse this power. In order to counter this argument, those in support of line-item veto often give the example of 44 states which have been using this power for quite sometime now with no complaints whatsoever. All in all, the debate surrounding this concept is here to stay, and we can just hope that this stalemate situation ends sometime soon.