Restored balance

Court rules line-item veto is unconstitutional

The U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the line-item veto power given to the president in 1996. This ability, bestowed upon the presidency by Congress, clearly violated the Constitution's balance of power among the branches of the federal government. With this ruling, the court made the correct decision to restore Congressional power to the level originally intended by the framers of the Constitution.

The line-item veto allowed the president to sign a statute into law and then take out certain provisions of the legislation within a five-day period after signing. Congress gave this power to the presidency through the Line-Item Veto Act in 1996. The original intentions of the bill were noble: with this power, the president could remove wasteful spending of tax dollars from legislation. But the line-item veto essentially gives the president the ability to rewrite legislation, as opposed to his Constitutional job of final approval.

Last year, President Clinton used the line-item veto 82 times. His actions angered many, especially lawmakers supporting military construction projects that were canceled. Also, critics in support of the line-item veto complained when Clinton eased his use of the power, permitting more pork barrel legislation to go through. In all, Congress brought back 38 of Clinton's line-item vetoes as separate bills.

Lawmakers should work to eliminate wasteful, pork barrel legislation. But instead of the line-item veto, our elected representatives should take the initiative and check their own spending. Those lawmakers who cannot resist the temptation - and there will be even greater temptation now that the line-item veto is gone - should be voted out of office by the electorate.

The line-item veto also, in effect, allowed the president to censure individual members of Congress. The president could eliminate single appropriations a particular lawmaker or group of lawmakers worked to include in legislation. With such power, the president silenced the constituencies these lawmakers represent.

The Constitution formed the government so that no one person can determine the course of legislation. The president's job is not to write legislation; the Constitution's first article gives that power to Congress. Legislation is submitted to the president for approval - not for presidential editing. The passage the court quoted in its decision states that "Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to the House in which it shall have originated ..."

In light of this passage, the line-item veto clearly steps outside the guidelines set up by the framers. As the Supreme Court ruled, Congress can only alter the president's power regarding legislative text through a constitutional amendment.

The Supreme Court performed its duty of upholding the Constitution in ruling against the line-item veto. The framers set up a careful balance of power so that no single branch could wield power over the others. This ruling ensures that all legislative power belongs to Congress, as the Constitution provides.

07-06-98