As a member of the Blue Dog Coalition of fiscally conservative members of Congress, U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Idaho, has introduced or signed on to many proposals that target the budget deficit. One of them has caught the attention of the Obama administration, which has chosen to hop aboard and offer its own version.

Minnick’s Budget Enforcement Legislative Tool, or BELT (as in tightening), would give the executive branch something similar to the line-item veto. Once Congress passes an appropriations bill, the president would be able to make a list of objectionable spending items that would be sent back to each house of Congress for an up-or-down vote.

Congress passed a line-item veto bill in the 1990s, but it took a two-thirds majority vote in each house to overturn the president’s decisions. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the law in 1998, saying that it shifted too much budget power to the executive branch and thus was unconstitutional. Under Minnick’s bill, Congress could override the president’s decisions with simple majority votes, meaning that body would retain greater power.

Before it was struck down, President Bill Clinton used the line-item veto 82 times on 11 bills. The Cato Institute estimates that this saved $2 billion. The Obama administration’s version of the bill would place a 25 percent cap on reductions for existing programs. Minnick’s bill has no limit, meaning it offers greater potential for budget savings.

Because most annual government spending is tied to entitlements and defense, both of which are popular, this budget tool wouldn’t be a cure-all for runaway spending. But it will make presidents more accountable for spending decisions. As is, they must either veto entire appropriations bills if they object to portions of them, or swallow hard and sign them.

Minnick’s tool would also allow presidents to shine a light on pet projects and other forms of wasteful spending and force their congressional backers to defend them out in the open. It also has provisions that would allow presidents to alert Congress to spending items that are viewed dimly, which might prevent them from being placed in omnibus bills.

Forty-three states give their governors some form of line-item veto. Presidents need such a tool, too. Minnick’s bill ought to become law.