Veto Power
Image and Video: President Clinton signed the Line Item Veto Act on April 9, 1996.
The Presentment Clause (Article 1, Section 7, Clause 2) states that “Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it…”
The Line Item Veto Act of 1996 gave President Clinton the power to cancel certain spending items and tax benefits within five days of signing a bill. In June 1998, the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of the Line Item Veto Act in Clinton v. City of New York. The Supreme Court decided that this Act was unconstitutional since it allowed the President to change legislation after its passage through Congress.
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2007-0624-F: Line Item Veto
2012-0774-F: Veto of the Interior Department Fiscal Year 1996 Appropriations Bill