line-item veto

/laɪnˈaɪtəm ˈvitoʊ/

Other forms: line-item vetoes

When an elected executive rejects individual parts of a bill, rather than the entire thing, that's a line-item veto. In the U.S., most governors are able to use line-item vetoes.

The line-item veto has always been contentious in the United States, with many U.S. presidents repeatedly seeking the power to refuse specific sections of proposed legislation. Under President Bill Clinton, Congress passed the Line-Item Veto Act of 1996, but he was the only president who had the chance to veto parts of federal budgets — the Supreme Court held it to be unconstitutional in 1998. In Latin, veto means "I forbid."

Definitions of line-item veto

1. noun

   the power of a government executive to veto individual items in a bill without vetoing other parts of the bill
   type of:

   veto

   the power or right to prohibit or reject a proposed or intended act (especially the power of a chief executive to reject a bill passed by the legislature)