Senate Line-Item Vote May be on tap for Sept.

The Hill newspaper today reported that Senate Republican leaders plan to bring up a White House endorsed line item veto for a vote after the August recess. While many in the Senate leadership preferred a budget reform package introduced by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) it is now likely that the line item provision in that budget will be brought to the floor separately.

 But many Republicans acknowledged as it now stands, they may not have the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Democratic filibuster. In June, the House passed similar line item veto legislation with 247 votes. That legislation, introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), received some bi-partisan support with 35 Democrats voting for the measure, but would require the 60 votes in the Senate to avoid a point of order