In the State of the Union, the President said he will submit a proposal to Congress to reduce the overlap among agencies. Obama also called for a five-year freeze in domestic spending, but asked lawmakers to do more with entitlement spending. He also promised to continue to invest in innovation and research and development.
The Senate has begun consideration of proposals to give the President a line-item veto over individual provisions in federal spending bills. The measures are designed to overcome shortcomings in a 1996 line-item veto bill which was declared unconstitutional.