Raines v. Byrd

521 U.S. 811 (1997)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

The Senate and the House passed a bill to allow a line item veto. Ps, six members of Congress, filed a complaint in the District Court against the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget alleging that the Act was unconstitutional. The terms of the bill do not actually employ the use of the line item veto but merely allows the President the authority to cancel certain spending and tax benefit measures after he has signed them into law. Cancellation is done by special message from the President to Congress. For those measures that were canceled, there was an expedited procedure for the Congress to consider rendering the President's cancellation null and void. The Act also allowed any members of Congress or any individual adversely affected by the bill to bring an action for declaratory relief or injunctive relief on grounds that the bill violates the Constitution. Ps sued alleging that the Act unconstitutionally expanded Presidential powers and violated the bicameral passage requirements thus altering the constitutional balance of powers. Appellants, Bryd (Ds), moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, claiming (among other things) that Ps lacked standing to sue and that their claim was not ripe. The District Court denied that motion. On the merits, the court held that the Act violated the Presentment Clause Art I, section 7 cl. 2 and was an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to the President. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.