George Bush

President Bush is again calling on the U.S. Senate to give him authority to remove certain items from bills before signing them into law.

Mr. Bush raised the issue Tuesday in a speech in Washington. It is called the line-item veto. He also talked about it Saturday in his weekly radio address.

The President said the move would help him get rid of wasteful spending measures tacked onto important legislation. He said those last-minute additions, known as earmarks, have grown more common in recent years.

President Clinton briefly had line-item veto authority before the Supreme Court struck it down as unconstitutional in 1998. The Court said it gave the president too much power.

House lawmakers on Thursday voted to grant President Bush a modified line-item veto that would allow Congress to approve or reject his changes before they become law.