HR 1979119th CongressIn Committee

Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2025

Introduced: Mar 10, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2025 creates a formal, time-limited process for the President to propose canceling specific items of spending or tax benefit authority after Congress enacts a bill that provides them. Specifically, the President can propose cancellations of discretionary budget authority, items of direct spending, or targeted tax benefits within 30 days of enactment. Congress would then consider an “approval bill” that would either approve those cancellations (and thereby reduce the deficit) or reject them. The approval bill must follow a tight, expedited schedule with limited amendments, and cancellations take effect only if the approval bill is enacted. The measure also grants temporary presidential deferral authority (up to 30 days, with one possible 30-day extension) to withhold the canceled amounts from being available or implemented while the approval bill is being considered. The bill includes targeting rules for identifying targeted tax benefits, requires CBO and Comptroller General involvement, and includes a sunset provision ending the title on October 1, 2031. It would apply to Acts enacted after enactment and would not apply retroactively.

Key Points

1Scope of line-item veto authority: The President may propose cancellations of discretionary budget authority, direct spending, or targeted tax benefits after a bill’s enactment, with a requirement to specify amounts, affected accounts, reasons, and estimated budget effects in a special message to Congress.
2Expedited congressional processing: An approval bill (the mechanism by which Congress would approve the President’s cancellations) must be introduced within five days, reported by a committee within seven legislative days, and considered under a fast track set of rules in both the House and Senate. The bill would not be amendable, and debate is tightly limited.
3Presidential deferral authority: At the same time as transmitting a special message, the President may defer (withhold from obligation or implementation) any canceled discretionary budget authority, direct spending item, or targeted tax benefit for up to 30 days, with a possible one-time extension of another 30 days.
4Identification and treatment of targeted tax benefits: The bill requires joint action by the chairs of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance to identify targeted tax benefits in revenue or reconciliation legislation, potentially placing them in a separate section of the bill. The Joint Committee on Taxation would reflect these identifications in revenue estimates.
5Sunset and effective date: The title has an expiration date (October 1, 2031) and applies only to dollar amounts provided in Acts enacted after the date of enactment. The process is designed to be temporary and subject to legal and budgetary adjustments.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Federal budgeting and appropriations process: Agencies, programs, and tax provisions that rely on discretionary budget authority, direct spending, or targeted tax benefits could be targeted for cancellation, with the President proposing cancellations and Congress deciding quickly through an expedited process.Secondary group/area affected- Members of Congress and congressional committees (Budget, Ways and Means, Finance, and Rules): They would operate under tight timelines, limited amendments, and a streamlined path to approve or reject cancellations, changing how deficit-reduction or policy priorities are pursued.Additional impacts- Fiscal and budgetary planning: The possibility of cancellation and deferrals could alter agency planning, program funding cycles, and the predictability of budget authority.- Legal/constitutional considerations: The revived line-item veto concept has faced constitutional challenges in the past (notably Clinton v. City of New York, 1998). This bill attempts to structure a process to circumvent that issue, but it would likely face legal scrutiny regarding presentment and bicameralism.- Oversight and transparency: The bill requires CBO to estimate savings and the Comptroller General to report on deferrals, increasing reporting and accountability, but also concentrating power over budgetary outcomes in the executive branch and in a fast-track legislative process.- Targeted tax benefits: The identification and potential isolation of targeted tax benefits could affect tax policy, enforcement, and the visibility of tax expenditures within reconciliation or revenue legislation.

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