Issue 515 Should the President Number 3 January 28, 2015

In the final leg of this series, we ask if the President should have the power to veto past laws that have been already been passed under previous administrations.  Let us begin.

Idea:  Like with the issue of too much government overlap, we have an issue of too many laws that over the course of time are rendered useless, or are usurped by current law, while the old laws are still being enforced for arbitrary reasons (some of which Congress simply passes when they are set to expire without actual review).  So the idea is to allow the President to again make a proposal to Congress on what laws to abolish, agencies/ departments to eliminate, and even programs to defund. And just like before, the Congress will have a veto power on each individual post Presidential veto.

How it works:  So the President would make a list of laws he/she wants to eliminate, and a list of agencies, departments, or programs (all passed into existence by law) to defund and thus eliminate. This list would be called the Post Presidential Veto due to it all being laws passed under past Presidential administrations.  From there the Congress like before would vote on the merit of each law if an objection to a laws termination was raised.  Of course again, the law could only be saved by a 50% plus one vote by congress.  However, the other laws will still be terminated.

Impact:  So this again gives the President greater power, but still at the behest of Congress to balance it out.  It would also allow the President to reduce government waste by not having to enforce or fund certain laws and their associated programs, agencies and departments.  However, there is still an issue of too much power, and the possible risk of necessary laws we have forgotten the purpose of being removed.  Also, with Congresses penchant for not actually reading laws before passing them, it poses an even greater risk to allow the President to have this power at this current time.

Conclusion:  Unfortunately, Congress would need to be responsible for this type of veto to actually take place.  The fact that Congress shirks its responsibility by not reading the bills it passes into law means such possible useful powers for the President and Congress become non-starters.  So for now, unless we give such power to the Supreme Court, we cannot have this type of tool be given to the President.