H.R. 1979 — Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2025

This section revises Title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) by striking most of part B (except sections 1016 and 1013, redesignated as sections 1019 and 1020, respectively) and all of part C and inserting new part B to establish legislative line-item veto authority. Under the new authority, the President may propose, within 30 calendar days after enactment of a bill or joint resolution, to cancel any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority, items of direct spending, or targeted tax benefits via a special message to Congress. Each special message must specify the dollar amounts or items proposed for cancellation, relevant accounts or functions, reasons for cancellation, estimated fiscal effects, a numbered list of proposed cancellations for an approval bill, and (if applicable) why they differ from prior proposals; the President is prohibited from duplicative proposals and limited to 10 special messages per bill or joint resolution (20 for omnibus budget reconciliation or appropriations measures). Cancellations take effect only upon enactment of an approval bill dedicated solely to deficit reduction (not requiring deposit of trust or special fund amounts into other funds), with required adjustments to concurrent budget resolutions, committee allocations, and statutory spending limits. The bill receives expedited consideration, including introduction within five session days of the special message, committee reporting or discharge within seven legislative days in the House, and related procedural protections.

This section makes technical and conforming amendments to the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) and related provisions to implement the bill's line-item veto authority. Specifically, it (1) updates cross-references in CBA §904 from "1017" to "1012"; (2) amends CBA §402 to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director, upon receiving a special message under new §1011 proposing cancellation of direct spending, to estimate the resulting savings in budget authority or outlays relative to the baseline under §257 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 and transmit the estimate to the Budget Committee chairmen of the House and Senate; (3) makes clerical changes, including striking the last sentence of §1(a), replacing in §1022(c) (as redesignated) the phrase "rescinded or that is to be reserved" with "canceled" and "1012" with "1011," and revising the table of contents for title X to reflect a new PART B ("Legislative Line-Item Veto") with §§1011-1020; and (4) provides that the amendments apply only to discretionary budget authority, items of direct spending, or targeted tax benefits in acts enacted on or after the date of enactment.

This section states the sense of Congress that no President or executive branch official should condition—or threaten to condition—the inclusion or exclusion of any proposed cancellation in a special message under this Act upon any vote cast or to be cast by a Member of Congress.