Reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) hit an an unlikely delay yesterday when lawmakers revealed a goof in the Farm Bill which includes a measure to reauthorize the CFTC. The bill passed the House and Senate last week with the two-thirds majority required to override a veto. It was vetoed as expected by President Bush yesterday. House members then voted to override the veto, and the Senate was set to vote on an override as well when it was discovered that a 34-page section of the bill had been omitted from the bill sent to the White House due to a “printing error,” the AP reported. According to the AP, because Bush vetoed a different bill from the one Congress passed, the eventual law could be rendered unconstitutional.
Lawmakers had hoped to pass the bill before the Memorial Day recess, but now it will be voted on again today by the House and Senate and then sent back to the White House. A spokesperson for the CFTC says that another temporary spending measure for the agency is not required. The CFTC has been operating under temporary spending measures since it last came up for reauthorization in 2005.
