Bush to ask Congress for line-item veto power

From Reuters:

President George W. Bush will soon make a formal request to Congress for a line-item veto -- authority that would give him power to cancel specific spending items in budget bills, an administration official said on Sunday. Many presidents have sought such authority on the argument it would help cut down on wasteful spending in the budget. In a rare yielding of some of its powers of the purse strings, Congress passed legislation granting a line-item veto to President Bill Clinton. The Supreme Court struck down the law in 1998, ruling by a vote of 6-3 that Congress did not have the authority under the Constitution to give the president that power.

I think there are good arguments on both sides as to why the President should or should not have line item veto power. On one hand, it may limit spending, but at the same time, what type of programs that get cut depend entirely on the President, which gives the Executive branch more power. I don't see how Congress can give the President this authority anyway, since the Supreme Court already struck down a similar law, but we'll see what happens.


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--Tom Hayes