Washington, D.C. – The following is the statement of Citizens Against Government Waste President Thomas A. Schatz in reaction to the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on the unconstitutionality of the 1996 Line-Item Veto Act.

“The Court’s decision to overturn the line item veto is certainly a disappointment.  While it is true that the framers of the Constitution did not give the President line-item veto power, they doubtless never envisioned the institution of Congress becoming so careless, wasteful and selfish with the purse strings as to make such a law necessary.  This year alone, Citizens Against Government Waste identified $13.2 billion in wasteful spending on some 2,100 pork-barrel projects.  Under those conditions it would seem reasonable for Congress to pass a well-crafted law to curb its own abuse.  And it also seems – as Justices Scalia, O’Connor and Breyer concur – that the Line-Item Veto Act did exactly that.

“I am encouraged by the comments today of lawmakers such as Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.), which indicate their commitment to accomplishing this reform through either new legislation or a constitutional amendment.  We are confident that the line item veto will be an issue in the upcoming congressional elections.”

CAGW is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 600,000-member organization dedicated to eliminating waste, inefficiency, mismanagement, and abuse in the federal government.