How Does This Proposal Differ From the Line Item Veto Act of 1996?
Unlike the Budget Committee’s proposal, the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 granted the President the unilateral authority to cancel enacted appropriations. The Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that such authority was unconstitutional, since it allowed the President to change a law by himself, thus violating the constitutional rules for creating or amending laws. The new proposal is presumed to be constitutional because it does not grant the President the authority to change an appropriations act unilaterally; rather, he would request that Congress enact a change in the appropriations law. There are three ways in which the new proposal could grant the President more power than under the 1996 act. That act gave the President five days from the enactment of appropriations, entitlement, or tax legislation to decide whether to cancel some of its provisions, while the Budget Committee proposal gives the President 45 days (and longer if Congress has adjourned sine die). In addition, the 1996 act effec
