Progress on the end-of-year omnibus funding measure bogged down Thursday, as the impeachment debate, legislative riders and a House Republican commitment to take the Labor-HHS funding bill to the floor stalled action, raising concerns that Congress will not be able to leave town shortly.
"I think we may have lost the better part of a day," said House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Edward Porter, R-Ill., one of the key negotiators.
A senior Democratic House Appropriations Committee aide agreed. "Today is the day we slipped backward," the aide said. "The people who are saying they want to go home are the same ones who are saying they want this and that."
A Thursday evening meeting between White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and congressional Republican leaders was postponed. The House spent much of the afternoon on the impeachment inquiry debate. Then, the House turned to consideration of its version of the Labor-HHS bill, even though negotiators are now dealing with the measure. Asked why the Labor-HHS bill was brought to the floor, a House Republican leadership aide said, "It's a commitment that we would do this. We're sticking to that commitment."
House Republican conservatives, who have been upset with GOP leaders for abandoning several issues, have said they wanted the bill on the floor.
Another leadership aide said, "Promises made, promises kept." Appropriators were clearly upset with the decision to spend time on the Labor-HHS bill at the same time they wanted to be negotiating the end-of-year legislation. "I'm not going to comment on this," House Appropriations Chairman Bob Livingston, R-La., said. "It's not worthy of my comment."
Porter said the debate time was a "complete" and "utter" waste of time. He said things had stalled so much Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., went home to Pennsylvania for the evening.
Livingston said progress was made on such issues as the International Monetary Fund but the Clinton administration had not presented Republicans with its wish list of Labor-HHS funding items and offsets to pay for them.
"I think we're not quite at that point," Porter said.
The Democratic appropriations committee aide said, "We haven't even started on money yet." He pointed to a long list of legislative riders that negotiators still must discuss.
Administration sources Thursday said the White House budget team was focusing on resolving disputes involving "more than 100" controversial riders attached to the spending measures.
OMB spokeswoman Linda Ricci sought to counter reports that the GOP leadership believes only a handful of riders require attention by senior officials.
"The question of how many riders make their way to the top- tier list is a function of how much progress we make," Ricci said.
Administration officials described progress Wednesday and Thursday as "modest." Ricci said Wednesday's budget talks were devoted almost exclusively to the riders.
The riders touch on a host of issues, including the environment, education, foreign policy and the census.
The White House is maintaining a general threat to veto appropriations legislation over the question of the environmental riders, but specific provisions are not being singled out.
"There are many egregious environmental riders," Ricci said.
On the Commerce-Justice-State bill, the Democratic appropriations aide said several issues remain, including census sampling, federal prosecutor ethics, free air time for political candidates, limits on handgun checks, immigration issues and possible State Department reauthorization language.
The District of Columbia bill is still plagued by issues surrounding the purchase of tobacco by minors and several local government issues.
Foreign Operations negotiators still have at least five issues remaining and Interior appropriators must solve at least nine legislative rider concerns.
Conferees on the Labor-HHS bill still must settle the issues of bilingual education changes, a plan to expand education block grants, a new ergonomics study, changes to the National Labor Relations Board, a needle exchange rider and a ban on education testing.
In addition, the aide said, there is some discussion that the financial services bill could be added and that riders dealing with extending patents on certain medications could become part of the bill.
"I don't think we're succeeding in knocking off as many issues as they are adding," the aide said. "If they don't get real, they won't make it next Friday."
With the clock ticking down, administration officials appear to be warming to agreeing to a continuing resolution, if necessary.
"We would take a look at a CR," OMB's Ricci said, but added that it would have to be "clean."
Another administration official indicated the weekend could provide a "cushion" that might negate the need for a CR, since little federal government activity occurs Saturday and Sunday.
Lisa Caruso and Keith Koffler also contributed to this article.
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