What is a line-item veto?
A line-item veto lets an executive cancel specific parts of a bill, usually spending items, while signing the rest into law.
The president does not have line-item veto power today. The federal Line Item Veto Act is not in force. The Supreme Court struck it down in 1998.
How does a line-item veto work?
A regular veto rejects an entire bill. A line-item veto targets individual provisions instead. Cornell’s line-item veto definition explains this distinction and notes that states give governors this power.
Imagine a spending bill that funds three projects. Where the law permits a line-item veto, an executive could cancel one project’s funding while approving the other two. That is an example of the power, not an option the president has today.
An appropriations bill provides funding for federal agencies and programs when it becomes law. Its separate funding items explain why line-item veto debates often focus on spending.
Why can the president not use a line-item veto?
Congress passed the Line Item Veto Act in 1996. It let the president cancel certain spending and tax provisions after signing a bill into law.
In Clinton v. City of New York (1998), the Supreme Court held that the Act violated the Constitution’s Presentment Clause. Congress’s Constitution Annotated explanation of the line-item veto describes the decision.
The Constitution requires both chambers to pass legislation and present it to the president. The Act instead let the president cancel parts of an enacted law without that process. The ruling ended that federal line-item veto power.
How is it different from other vetoes?
With a regular veto, the president returns the whole bill to Congress with objections. Congress can override that veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber, with a quorum present. The threshold counts members present and voting, not the full membership.
A pocket veto kills an unsigned bill when the 10-day review period ends and Congress’s adjournment prevents its return. Sundays do not count. Congress cannot override a pocket veto. Neither type lets the president keep selected parts of the bill and reject the rest.
Follow the votes before the veto
A veto is an executive action, not a congressional vote. Your representative and senators vote on bills before the president acts. Those recorded votes show where they stood on the legislation.
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