President Seeks "Enhanced Rescission Authority" to Enact Spending Cuts

President Obama is requesting an “enhanced rescission authority” that would be a compromise between current budget procedures and the line-item veto which the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 1998.

Obama’s plan would give the president 45 working days after a bill is enacted to send Congress a notice of funding the administration wants to cut or rescind. This new procedure would not affect entitlement programs such as Medicare Social Security but rather would apply to discretionary spending and funding authorized outside of the appropriations process.

Congress would then have 25 working days to vote on the president’s spending cuts. The House would vote first and both chambers would have to cast an up-or-down vote with no amendments.