Senators suggest line-item veto to supercommittee

Two Republican senators are revisiting familiar territory — the line-item veto. 

Sens. Dan Coats (Ind.) and John McCain (Ariz.), along with Democratic Sens. Tom Carper (Del.) and Mark Udall (Colo.), sent a letter on Tuesday to two heads of the congressional deficit-reduction committee urging them to include a constitutional line-item veto in its final deficit reduction package. 

"While a line-item veto alone will not solve our problems, it is a good start to help rein in excessive government spending,” Coats said in the letter to co-chairmen Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).

"A bipartisan group in Congress agrees that the line-item veto will help hold Washington accountable and ensure taxpayer dollars are used effectively," he said. "I will be working with the deficit committee to include this important tool in the final package it produces."

In 1996, Coats and McCain co-authored a line-item veto measure that became law. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional, a ruling opposed by Coats and McCain. 

Coats and 40 senators support a measure that would give the president line-item veto authority to cut wasteful spending, and would address previously questionable constitutional questions.