<P> Presidents of the United States have repeatedly asked the Congress to give them a line - item veto power . According to Louis Fisher in The Politics of Shared Power, Ronald Reagan said to Congress in his 1986 State of the Union address, "Tonight I ask you to give me what forty - three governors have: Give me a line - item veto this year . Give me the authority to veto waste, and I'll take the responsibility, I'll make the cuts, I'll take the heat ." Bill Clinton echoed the request in his State of the Union address in 1995 . Congress attempted to grant this power to the president by the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 to control "pork barrel spending", but in 1998 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the act to be unconstitutional in a 6 - 3 decision in Clinton v. City of New York . The court found that exercise of the line - item veto is tantamount to a unilateral amendment or repeal by the executive of only parts of statutes authorizing federal spending, and therefore violated the Presentment Clause of the United States Constitution . Thus a federal line - item veto, at least in this particular formulation, would only be possible through a constitutional amendment . Prior to that ruling, President Clinton applied the line - item veto to the federal budget 82 times . </P> <P> Though the Supreme Court struck down the Line - Item Veto Act in 1998, President George W. Bush asked the Congress to enact legislation that would return the line - item veto power to the Executive Authority . First announcing his intent to seek such legislation in his January 31, 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush sent a legislative proposal, the Legislative Line - Item Veto Act of 2006, to the Congress on March 6, 2006, urging its prompt passage . Senators Bill Frist (R - TN) and John McCain (R - AZ), and Republican Whip Senator Mitch McConnell (KY) jointly introduced this proposal . Representative Paul Ryan (R - WI) introduced his own version, the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006, in March of that year . </P> <P> On that same day, Joshua Bolten, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, gave a press conference on the President's line - item veto proposal . Bolten explained that the proposed Act would give the President the ability to single out "wasteful" spending and to put such spending on hold . While the spending line - item is on hold, the President can send legislation to Congress to withdraw the particular line - item . The proposal would then be considered in both houses within ten days on an up or down basis, and could be passed by a simple majority . Additionally, such proposals could not be filibustered . </P> <P> When asked how this proposed legislation was different from the 1996 Line - Item Veto Act that the United States Supreme Court had declared illegal, Bolten said that whereas the former act granted unilateral authority to the Executive to disallow specific spending line items, the new proposal would seek Congressional approval of such line - item vetoes . Thus, for the President to successfully withdraw previously enacted spending, a simple majority of Congress is required to agree to specific legislation to that effect . </P>

Who has the power to use line item veto