Plan to send Congress home until after elections collapses

A Senate-passed plan to send Congress home through the elections collapsed Wednesday amid a climate of mutual mistrust between the two parties and an absence of communication between Republicans and Democrats.

"This is not a bipartisan agreement, so we're not going to do it," said House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, Wednesday evening.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, was less definitive about whether leaders would bring the Senate's plan to the floor. "Can't do something that can't pass," he said, adding, "We're just going to let it rest overnight."

Barring an attempt by Republicans to salvage the plan, Congress could remain in session every day up to and including Election Day, operating day-to-day through short continuing resolutions.

The plan--a continuing resolution to keep the government running through Nov. 14--originated in the Senate. A Senate GOP leadership aide said it was developed between Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. The aide said it was "as close as you can come to having two individual people decide at the same time [that] we aren't getting anywhere around here."

That recognition--reached in the absence of any serious negotiations on remaining policy differences between Republicans and Democrats--led to rapid Senate adoption of the CR by unanimous consent Wednesday. Senate Minority Whip Reid indicated in a floor exchange with Lott that President Clinton would sign the measure--even though Clinton lately has insisted on signing only one-day, short-term CRs.

House Republican sources said they received notice of the Senate's plan only one hour before the CR was brought up. The Senate leadership aide said Hastert signaled his conditional support at that time. "The speaker said ... if everybody's okay with this, I think I'd be okay too," said the aide.

Republicans insist that House Democrats also favored the plan and said so in a top-level, Democrats-only meeting Wednesday morning--an assertion that House Democrats strongly contest.

DeLay said, "Daschle, [House Minority Leader Dick] Gephardt [D-Mo.], and [White House Chief of Staff John] Podesta got in a room and said they committed to do this and the President said he'd sign it."

A Daschle spokeswoman said Podesta said at the meeting he would not recommend a veto of the longer-term CR, while Gephardt "was more circumspect." A House Democratic leadership aide said Gephardt "said we were going to oppose it, which is what we told our members, because [Republicans] haven't done their work."

Clinton lately has agreed to sign only one-day CRs at the urging of congressional Democrats, who have said it increases their leverage in negotiations and forces Republicans to do their work rather than going home to campaign.

DeLay earlier had approached Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., about the idea of moving a longer-term CR, and said Murtha told him he could deliver some Democratic votes for it. DeLay also said Murtha told him that "he thought Gephardt would support it."

After the Senate deemed the CR to have been passed and left town, Hastert indicated he was willing to accept the Nov. 14 plan, saying, "Maybe a cooling off period isn't a bad idea."

But soon thereafter, Gephardt urged fellow Democrats to oppose the measure.

"I'm hopeful we can stay here and do our work," said House Minority Whip Bonior before the Democratic Caucus meeting. "If they decide to not do it, then they've given up on the Congress."

When House Republicans got wind that Democrats were opposing the longer CR, they balked.

"They smell a rat," said an Armey spokeswoman. Republicans were concerned that if their members voted in effect to leave town, Democrats might be able to score points by portraying them as abandoning their work. That was a risk Republicans were unwilling to take a mere six days before the election, even on a complex and somewhat obscure vote like a CR.

"Our caucus overwhelmingly wanted to keep working," said a Hastert spokesman. "They didn't want us to adjourn tomorrow."

Nevertheless, asked what work Republicans planned to accomplish during the next few days, Hastert mentioned only the Water Resources Development Act, which would fund a major restoration project for the Florida Everglades--a measure Democrats contend was delayed to accommodate the travel schedule of vulnerable Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla, who missed votes Wednesday.

But Democrats contend that GOP leaders reversed course because they could not get members of their own conference to support the CR. "They did not consult us on a two-week CR," said a Democratic leadership aide. "It's their idea ... I think they're headed to shut the government down."

Dampening prospects of getting Congress home before the elections is the lack of communication between Republicans and Democrats.

Hastert said he has not contacted Gephardt about the schedule, and said White House negotiators have refused invitations to discuss outstanding issues on immigration and ergonomics.

Meanwhile, consultation between House and Senate Republicans leaders also appears to have dropped off. Lott flew to Mississippi Wednesday.

A Senate leadership aide said the Senate by unanimous consent could adopt the next one-day CR passed by the House. But Daschle's spokeswoman cautioned that it was up to senators whether to "gamble" there would be a voice vote on the issue. The Senate is scheduled to convene at 8:30 p.m. today.

House Rules Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., said the Republican leadership's view was that "When we have a strong bipartisan agreement on moving a [long-term] CR, we should do that," but not before.

"If everyone agrees to it, that keeps everyone from demagoguing it, like they're doing now," said DeLay, who said Republicans were not shutting the government down and would be in on Election Day.

Moreover, leaders on each side appear comfortable with their political prospects going into the elections.

"I think Gov. Bush has gained every day since we've been here in the last two weeks," said House Chief Deputy Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo. Democrats said they have broken through national media lately with their message that this is a "do-nothing Congress."

As for outstanding substantive issues, House Appropriations Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., emphasized Wednesday that although the FY2001 Labor-HHS conference report has yet to be filed and the Commerce- Justice-State conference report is facing a veto threat, "the appropriations issues have all been resolved."

Instead, Young said those last two FY2001 measures are being held up by authorizing issues.

And because the Labor-HHS conference report will have to serve as the vehicle to complete the FY2001 appropriations process-- which cannot be wrapped up until those politically controversial matters are resolved--Young told reporters, "I think everybody in general understands that conference report will not be completed" before the Nov. 7 election.

Lisa Caruso contributed to this story.