Line Item Veto Act
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| Line Item Veto Act | |
|---|---|
 U.S. Government · Public domain · source | |
| Name | Line Item Veto Act |
| Enacted | 1996 |
| Introduced | 1996 |
| Signed by | Bill Clinton |
| Affected | Appropriations Act, Congress of the United States |
| Repealed | 1998 |
Line Item Veto Act
The Line Item Veto Act was a 1996 United States federal statute signed by Bill Clinton that granted the President of the United States authority to cancel specific spending items, limited tax benefits, and limited targeted benefits in appropriations and entitlement legislation. The statute was intended to address concerns about congressional spending practices including earmarks associated with members of United States House of Representatives and United States Senate negotiators, and it intersected with debates involving figures and institutions such as Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, Gingrich's Contract with America, David Stockman, and Congressional Budget Office analyses. The enactment prompted immediate legal, constitutional, and political controversies that culminated in a Supreme Court decision involving litigants such as City of New York and officials including Janet Reno.
Background and Legislative History
The conceptual roots trace to earlier proposals from presidents and lawmakers including William Howard Taft era discussions and later advocacy by Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and supporters like Pete Domenici and Phil Gramm. The 1990s fiscal debates shaped congressional action amid clashes between Bill Clinton and congressional leaders Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole following the 1994 midterm election and the passage of Balanced Budget Act of 1995 proposals and Contract with America priorities. Legislative maneuvering involved committees such as the House Committee on Rules, Senate Committee on the Budget, and members like John Kasich and Jesse Helms who debated the authority and scope, while budget scoring relied on the Congressional Budget Office and analyses from Office of Management and Budget and watchdogs including Citizens Against Government Waste.
Provisions of the Act
The statute authorized the President of the United States to issue a special order cancelling discrete items within broad measures such as Appropriations Acts, certain new spending programs, and limited tax benefits contained in omnibus bills. It set procedures involving submission to the United States Congress of a cancellation message, a 48-hour period for legislative review under expedited procedures in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate, and constraints on retroactive cancellations and contract rights implicated by statutes like the Antideficiency Act. The Act also specified definitions for terms like "any provision" and covered statutes enacted by reference to joint resolutions for continuing appropriations, with oversight from entities including the Government Accountability Office and litigation potential involving state actors such as the State of New York and municipal plaintiffs.
Legal Challenges and Supreme Court Decision
Legal challenges were promptly filed by plaintiffs including the City of New York, International Union of Bricklayers, and others alleging violations of the United States Constitution's Article One of the United States Constitution separation of powers, and invoking doctrines associated with cases like Buckley v. Valeo and Marbury v. Madison. The litigation culminated in Raines v. Byrd-style standing arguments and ultimately in the Supreme Court case Clinton v. City of New York. The Court evaluated separation of powers, the Presentment Clause linked to Article I, Section 7 of the United States Constitution, and precedent from cases involving Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer and decisions addressing executive discretion such as INS v. Chadha. In a decision that referenced remedies and institutional prerogatives of legislators including senators and representatives from parties such as Republican Party (United States) and Democratic Party (United States), the Court held the Act unconstitutional, ruling that the cancellation authority violated the Presentment Clause and upset the legislative process.
Political and Fiscal Impact
Politically, the Act intensified disputes among national figures like Newt Gingrich, Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, and Al Gore while energizing interest groups such as Citizens Against Government Waste and public finance voices including Paul Krugman and Alan Greenspan in commentary. Fiscal advocates argued the power would curb pork-barrel earmarks and reduce deficits measured against projections by the Congressional Budget Office and Office of Management and Budget, while critics warned of concentrated executive authority reminiscent of debates involving Franklin D. Roosevelt-era controversies. The practical impact during the brief operative period included attempted cancellations affecting programs and beneficiaries represented by states such as New York and California, and reverberated through appropriations strategy in both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives.
Subsequent Developments and Attempts at Revival
After the Supreme Court decision, Congress and presidents pursued alternative mechanisms including strengthened rescission procedures, expedited rescission proposals championed by legislators like John McCain and Tom Coburn, and statutory experiments such as the Budget Control Act of 2011 and recurring debates over earmark reform led by committees chaired by figures like Harold Rogers and Thad Cochran. Proposals resurfaced in legislative packages involving senators and representatives across Republican Party (United States) and Democratic Party (United States), with renewed interest from policymakers including Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi at various times. Litigation and scholarship continued in law reviews and analyses citing scholars such as Akhil Reed Amar and Cass Sunstein, and the topic remains a point of contention in discussions about institutional balance among offices like the White House, United States Congress, and the Supreme Court of the United States.