Is House budget panel cutting waste or wasting time?

When the federal government was awash in red ink, the House and Senate Budget committees had big jobs to do. They wrote the annual budget resolution in the spring, issued instructions to other congressional committees to trim the budget deficit, and then made sure that cuts were actually made.

But in this era of surpluses, the Budget committees' loads are a lot lighter. So House Budget Committee Chairman John R. Kasich, R-Ohio, is on a new crusade: eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs.

In the past, Kasich has tried to point out areas of governmental excess by including what he called "illustrative" cuts in his annual budget resolution. However, Kasich got his head handed to him by members of the authorizing and Appropriations committees, who were eager to protect their turf.

So this year Kasich is trying something different. On March 15, his committee quietly organized into task forces to root out waste in six key sectors: defense and international affairs; education and training; health; housing and infrastructure; natural resources and the environment; and welfare. The task forces, on which Republicans will each have one more member than the Democrats, have a Sept. 13 deadline to make their reports. That is too late to influence the budget resolution, but it could have an impact on last-minute negotiations over the 13 appropriations bills.

Paradoxically, in a town that sees frequent turf battles, few lawmakers are griping loudly about Kasich's scheme or questioning whether he hatched it simply to keep himself visible. Kasich's presidential bid failed last year, and he is not seeking re-election to the House in November.

"I notice that the Budget Committee has expanded its horizons," said Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, with almost a yawn. "It doesn't bother me. It would indicate that people are looking for things to do."

But a few lawmakers do wonder if Kasich's task forces have the necessary expertise and if they will duplicate the work of other committees. "That's part of the mission and the mandate of the authorizing committees," said Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert, R-N.Y., the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee. "It would appear to be a duplication of what is being done-and done quite effectively, I might say."

Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wis., the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, was harsher. "If we want to talk about waste, fraud, and abuse, we ought to start with the Budget Committee and the work it produces," said Obey, a frequent Budget panel critic.

For his part, Kasich said that many committees don't have time to conduct proper oversight of federal programs. He said that members of his task forces also sit on various authorizing committees, so they bring expertise to the table. Added Thomas Kahn, the Democratic staff director of Kasich's panel: "Because we don't have a vested interest, we can bring a fresh view to the programs. I think it's useful, as long as it's done in a fair and nonpartisan manner."

Some authorizers apparently agree. "I suspect it will be helpful to the authorizers," said Rep. Rick A. Lazio, R-N.Y., the chairman of the House Banking and Financial Services Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee. Besides, Lazio noted that because the Budget Committee has no jurisdiction to write legislation, "there's not going to be any turf battles."