Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, is a co-sponsor on a bill he says could help cut unnecessary spending. Braley says the “Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act of 2010” has been described as similar to, but not subject to the same constitutional challenges as the line-item veto.
The bill would allow an “expedited recision” where the president could sign a bill into law and recommend that certain items in a bill be rescinded, or cut out. Braley says the issue would then come back to congress.
He says the president would sent the recommendations for the recisions a short time after the bill has been signed into law, and congress would take up the request on a fast track. Braley says to preserve the separation of powers among the branches of government, the recision requests would only happen if they received a majority of votes from each house of congress.
Braley says they are working with the administration to try and move the bill forward.