OMB director upbeat on line-item veto bill’s chances

The White House dispatched Office of Management and Budget Director Rob Portman Tuesday to press senators on legislation to give President Bush line-item veto authority on earmarks in spending and tax bills, but little progress was evident.

Portman held a series of meetings with Senate Republicans, including one in the office of Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., followed by a pitch to the GOP Conference during its weekly policy luncheon. Portman told reporters it is a "legitimate question" as to when the Senate could take up the measure, but he remained "very optimistic" that the bill could reach Bush's desk this year.

He stressed that the House passed line-item veto legislation by a broad margin, winning support from 35 Democrats on a 247-172 vote.

Portman also continues to try to round up support from Senate Democrats; eight sitting Democratic senators voted for the more stringent 1996 line-item veto bill when President Clinton was in office, while relative newcomers like Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Ben Nelson of Nebraska are considered possible supporters.

But the White House needs 60 votes to overcome a potential filibuster from traditionalists such as Senate Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and senators and aides said that margin is not yet in sight.

"Right now, I would say the odds are not in its favor," said Senate Budget Chairman Gregg. "My sense is they're still in the 50 [vote] range, not the 60 range." Gregg is pushing a more comprehensive package of budget process changes, including mechanisms aimed at controlling the growth of entitlement spending.

That bill is also languishing due to lack of support, but Gregg reiterated his position that if neither measure is going to get 60 votes, Republican leaders should bring up his bill and have a full-fledged debate on budget control measures.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has made no decisions about timing or which measure to bring up, and is taking a wait-and-see approach to the White House lobbying effort. There is some suspicion about the line-item veto bill as well, on the Republican side, but a senior aide predicted some wavering party members would eventually support it. "It's a lot less onerous than the 1996 version," the aide said.

The 1996 line-item veto law was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional two years later. The latest version gives Congress a significant check on presidential authority to use the line-item scalpel, by requiring an up-or-down vote on any package of earmarks proposed for rescission by the president.

Even if it passes constitutional muster, however, critics argue that the line-item veto will do little to reduce the deficit and might give the president leverage with lawmakers to pressure them to support his favored initiatives.