What does the "line item veto" allow a President to do?

The line item veto allows a President to reject specific provisions of a bill without having to veto the entire piece of legislation. This power gives the President the ability to selectively remove appropriations or particular items from a larger spending bill that they oppose, while still allowing the remainder of the bill to become law. The rationale behind this power is that it can help to eliminate wasteful spending or items that may not align with the President’s policy priorities, thus streamlining government expenditure.

Although the line item veto was granted to the President under the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, it was later deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1998. This decision held that the power to enact such a veto would violate the Presentment Clause of the Constitution, which outlines how legislation should be passed.

The other options describe powers or processes that are not associated with the line item veto. For instance, vetoing an entire bill is simply a rejection of the entire legislative proposal, while negotiating changes in spending bills occurs during the legislative process before a bill is finalized. Proposing individual amendments to any bill is within the responsibilities of legislators rather than the President. Thus, the uniqueness of the line item veto lies in its selective rejection of specific terms within a broader legislative