The House voted 247-172 last week to approve conservative Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R.-Wis.) line-item veto bill, which is really a fast-track rescission plan. In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the line-item veto enacted by a Republican Congress following up on the Contract With America because it allowed the President to unilaterally change laws enacted by Congress. Ryan’s bill avoids that by letting the President propose line items for rescission within 45 calendar days of signing a bill. The House and Senate would have 14 legisla-tive days to approve or disapprove those rescissions by a majority vote.
