I didn't jump in to this food fight to make a point, pro or con, regarding stem cell research. I only got involved because the original article, and the article deport posted were either being disingenuous, or lying.
Congress cannot make a law taking away the Executive's veto power. The Budget is an annual event, and the President gets a chance to veto it every year. Congress' only recourse, in that instance, is to override the veto with a 2/3rds vote. If Congress could make a law that funded something into the distant future, without the Executive having any recourse, the crackheads would have funded their favorite programs through the year 5000 already.
This could be a case where Congress and the NIH pulled a fast one on Bush, I don't have enough info to say. But, believe me, the President's veto is still intact.
As for EOs, I think they are illegal as hell anyway. But, Bush has the authority to overturn prior EOs, and has done so. I don't know if that ability would be helpful to him in this particular instance.
I think they should be, too. I don't know about that.
When and about what did GW overturn an EO?
Cheers,
Richard F.