President Barack Obama said Friday that he welcomes bipartisan proposals to give him a line-item veto.



During an appearance at House Republicans' retreat in Baltimore, Obama was generally receptive to a question from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), on whether he'd welcome using a line-item veto.



"With respect to the line item veto, I don't think there's a president out there who wouldn't love to have it," Obama told the group of House Republicans during a question-and-answer session at the retreat.



Ryan has worked with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) to advance a piece of legislation on the line-item veto, and the question comes as Obama has stressed deficits in his latest State of the Union address and budgets.



The line-item veto had been established legislatively during President Bill Clinton's administration, but it was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional. The Feingold-Ryan proposal would seek to pass constitutional muster.



"I don't like being held up with big bills that have stuff in them that are wasteful, but I've got to sign because it's a defense authorization," Obama said. "I would love to see more restraint within Congress. But I'm willing to have a serious conversation on the line-item vetoing."

