(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today applauded President Bush’s announcement urging Congress to reinstate the line item veto, which will give the executive branch the power to remove a single item in an appropriations or tax bill without killing the proposal entirely. 

“Given the current culture in Congress, the President needs the ability to reign in Congress’ wasteful spending without having to veto an entire bill, shut down federal agencies, or disrupt major federal programs,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.

The previous Line Item Veto Act allowed the president to cancel (but not reduce) any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority provided in an appropriation, any item of direct new spending, or certain limited tax benefits contained in any law.  It took effect on January 1, 1997 but was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1998.

Under the new proposal, the president would target wasteful areas in spending legislation and then return it to Congress for an up or down vote.  Congress would have 10 days to accept or reject the revisions.  The president’s proposal is a departure from the previous bill, which allowed the President to reject specific spending items only after a bill was passed by Congress.

The growth of pork barrel projects in the last decade has been explosive, skyrocketing from 1,439 in fiscal 1995 to 13,997 in fiscal 2005, an increase of 873 percent.  The 2005 Congressional Pig Book detailed ridiculous taxpayer-funded items such as $6.3 million for wood utilization research and $2 million to buy back the USS Sequoia Presidential Yacht.   

Other promising provisions that would help curtail pork are working their way through Congress.  Two lobbying and ethics bills (S. 2349 and S. 2128) were approved by Senate committees last week and are scheduled for Senate floor debate this week.  S. 2349 requires greater transparency in the legislative process, while S. 2128 requires greater transparency in lobbying activities.  Other anti-pork reforms CAGW champions are ensuring that a point-of-order can be raised against spending that violates budget caps and subjecting every part of emergency spending bills to the budget rules.  

“This reincarnation of the line item veto aims to curb the hijacking of the earmark process by lawmakers catering to special interests and their constituents,” Schatz said.  “The line item veto would make both the legislative and executive branches more accountable for our tax dollars.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.