The results of the brief experiment with the line-item veto during the Clinton years — before the Supreme Court struck it down — was not propitious. In a situation where the president needs every vote he can get in the Senate, he risks open warfare with someone whose vote he may need later on something. The act of ridding the budget of an earmark is an act of political warfare, and presidents undertake such direct attacks at their peril. As a result, it may only be used to settle scores. As I recall, Clinton used his line-item veto to punish Al D’Amato for investigating Whitewater by removing a special Medicare provision for New York state.