Judge Restores Pension Provision Axed by Clinton’s Line-Item Veto

A judge approved a negotiated settlement Tuesday that strikes down President Clinton’s use of the line-item veto to restrict federal workers’ choices of pension plans.

In a brief hearing, U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan adopted an agreement between the Justice Department and the National Treasury Employees Union that invalidated the veto and restores federal employees’ ability to switch pension systems later this year.

Gregory O’Duden, attorney for the union, argued that Clinton exceeded his authority when he used the veto in October to strike the pension provision from the 1998 Treasury spending bill.

It’s unclear how the case will affect two pending lawsuits challenging other uses of the line-item veto. The lawsuits concern vetoes of one item that would have given New York City special authority to raise Medicaid funds by taxing hospitals and another that would have let farmers defer capital-gains taxes when they sell processing facilities to cooperatives.

A hearing on the New York case is scheduled next week.

White House spokesman Barry Toiv said the administration accepted the court’s decision “in terms of this particular use of the line-item veto” but defended its use in other cases.

The court’s order didn’t address constitutional challenges to the line-item veto.