This bill, the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2025, gives the President a formal way to propose cancelling specific dollar amounts of discretionary budget authority, items of direct spending, or "targeted tax benefits" within 30 calendar days after a law is enacted. The President would send a "special message" to Congress listing the exact amounts or provisions to be canceled, reasons for each cancellation, and estimated fiscal effects when practicable.
The bill creates an expedited congressional process to consider an "approval bill" that would accept those proposed cancellations. The majority leader of each House must introduce the approval bill quickly, committees must report it within a short time, debate time is limited in both Chambers, and amendments are not allowed. If Congress enacts the approval bill, the cancellations take effect and any amounts canceled must be used only to reduce the deficit or increase the surplus. If Congress does not enact the approval bill before temporary suspension periods expire, the proposed cancellations become void and the original law remains in effect.
The President may temporarily withhold or suspend availability or implementation of the affected budget authority, direct spending, or targeted tax benefits for up to 30 calendar days when transmitting the special message, and may send one supplemental message to extend that suspension by up to 30 more days. The Comptroller General must report to Congress if any suspensions continue after the presidential deferral period has expired. The bill defines terms such as "targeted tax benefit" and sets limits on duplicate proposals and the number of special messages. The title would expire on October 1, 2031, and applies only to provisions enacted after the bill becomes law.
No publicly available information on projected net costs or savings is included in the bill text. The bill requires that any amounts canceled by an enacted approval bill be dedicated to reducing the deficit or increasing the surplus. The bill also requires CBO estimates of savings for proposed cancellations of direct spending when received.
The bill text frames the measure as providing a clear, expedited process for the President to propose rescissions of specific budget items and for Congress to consider those proposals quickly. It requires detailed descriptions and fiscal estimates in the President's special message, limits duplicative proposals, and directs that enacted cancellations be used to reduce the deficit or increase the surplus. Supporters, according to the bill language, would be enabling faster congressional action on proposed cancellations and creating reporting and timing rules for such proposals.
No publicly available information on opponents' views is included in the bill text or the provided metadata.