Also known as: line item veto · line-item vetoes · item veto · partial veto
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An executive power to reject selected provisions of an appropriations bill or other enacted statute rather than approving or rejecting the measure in its entirety. The power permits cancellation of discrete spending items, tax benefits, or other portions after presentment and signing. The Supreme Court has held that the Constitution confers no such authority on the President.
Congress enacted a clean energy statute granting tax credits for solar, wind, and nuclear projects. The President signed the bill into law. Days later the President directed the IRS to disregard the nuclear credits entirely. AtomWave Energy, a nuclear startup that had relied on the credits, lost the statutory benefit when the agency followed the directive.
Congress passed the Green Infrastructure Act providing tax credits and direct payments for qualifying projects. The President signed the Act. The President then issued a directive canceling only the payments earmarked for unionized contractors. Apex General Contractors, which performed covered union projects, lost the payments the statute had directed.
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Congress enacted a reform statute creating new inspector general offices, including one in the Department of Transportation. The President signed the statute. The President later directed that the Transportation inspector general provisions be treated as deleted. Felix, the nominee awaiting confirmation for the post, learned the position would never be filled.
Congress appropriated ten billion dollars for grants to aerospace firms and university labs and directed that the full amount be spent. The President instructed the agency to leave three billion dollars unobligated. AeroTech Systems and Stanton University Lab, both qualified applicants, were told their grants would not be awarded.
No. The President's veto power allows only approval or rejection of a bill in its entirety. Once the President signs a bill, the Take Care Clause requires faithful execution of the entire statute. Any attempt to nullify discrete provisions after enactment functions as an impermissible line-item veto.
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Members of Congress generally lack standing to challenge such statutes on the basis of institutional injuries shared by all legislators. Article III requires a personal, particularized injury rather than an abstract dilution of legislative power.
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Ordinary discretion allows an agency to set enforcement priorities or fill gaps within statutory bounds. A line-item veto attempts to rewrite or nullify specific statutory commands after enactment. The Constitution permits the former but forbids the latter.
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…terms of a campaign pledge, has succeeded in faking out the Supreme Court. The President's action it authorizes in fact is not a line-item veto and thus does not offend Art. I, § 7; and insofar as the substance of that action is concerned, it is no different from what Congress has permitted the President to do since the formation…