WHAT PROBLEM WAS THE LINE ITEM VETO ACT DESIGNED TO ADDRESS?
When the Congress passed the Line Item Veto Act, there were two goals that were routinely cited. The first was to reduce the federal budget deficit. The second was to provide for greater accountability in the budget process. Supporters of the Act believed that many provisions were inserted into appropriation bills or (especially) cited in report language that benefited narrow constituencies (this is the definition of so-called “pork barrel” spending) and that would be unable to get broad support if they had to stand closer scrutiny. The Line Item Veto Act was designed to address this problem by allowing the President to identify these narrow-interest provisions and placing the burden on the Congress to get supermajorities in both houses to reaffirm them. For now, the first of these goals seems to have been achieved. Both the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office now project surpluses, instead of deficits, as far as the eye can see. If the Congress believes
