News Release

September 4, 2003

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Cato study: `Balanced Budget Veto' needed to cut spending
Constitutional amendment provides new approach to reducing federal fat

WASHINGTON -- In a study released today, attorney Anthony Hawks proposes a constitutional amendment that would balance the federal budget by mandating a reduction of wasteful spending. The amendment, called a Balanced Budget Veto, blends the advantages of the Balanced Budget Amendment and the line-item veto.

The amendment, which Hawks describes in depth in the Cato Policy Analysis, "The Balanced Budget Veto: A New Mechanism to Limit Federal Spending," would grant the president authority to cut spending if Congress had not balanced the budget during the preceding year. If Congress had passed a balanced budget the year before, then the president would not have the authority to veto line items in the budget.

"[I]n the best tradition of our constitutional system of checks and balances, the president's veto authority would be protected from encroachment by Congress in the modern era of `omnibus' spending bills, while Congress could curb any abuse of the line-item veto by balancing the budget on its own," Hawks writes.

Hawks analyzes past attempts to control federal spending and includes a model constitutional amendment for his proposal. He also details the Supreme Court's 1998 decision that overturned the Clinton line-item veto and explains how his approach provides the president with a different, conditional veto power that will not violate the Constitution by tipping the balance of power to the executive.

"The president's veto power would be automatically restored when needed, but Congress would retain ultimate budgetary control because it would always have the power to balance the budget on its own," Hawks argues.

He concludes with the assertion that the Balanced Budget Veto Amendment could be an innovative and effective means to create fiscal discipline.

Policy Analysis no. 487