The Line-Item Veto Amendment

Abstract

One of the first orders of business for the 104th Congress was to introduce bills and proposed constitutional amendments that give the President a line-item veto. During the first two weeks of January 1995, proposed constitutional amendments were introduced by Senators Brown, Thurmond and Simon. Meanwhile, Senator Dole introduced S. 4, the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 1995. In this Essay I first present two arguments why if Congress wants the President to have a line-item veto, a constitutional amendment is superior to a statute as a means of conferring that power on the Executive. I then explain how other constitutional provisions would implicitly limit the President's power under a line-item veto amendment.