Congress Tries To Give President Line-Item Veto

The Republican-led House is trying to give President Barack Obama the line-item veto, a power over the purse that has been sought by both Republican and Democratic presidents.

The legislation, expected to pass later Wednesday, allows the president to pick out specific items in spending bills for elimination. Currently, the president must sign or veto spending bills in their entirety.

The president's choices for removal would then have to be approved by Congress.

Congress has made several efforts in the past to enact line-item veto bills, and in 1996 succeeded in giving the authority to President Bill Clinton. But two years later the Supreme Court struck the law down as unconstitutional.

Supporters say the bill, which now goes to the Senate, meets constitutional standards.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)