Congress, Bush Aren’t in Budget Lock Step

In the first test of the fresh “political capital” he said he earned in winning a second term, President Bush will try to convince the lame-duck Congress that convenes Tuesday to approve money for a host of spending initiatives, such as helping community colleges and exploring outer space.

But lawmakers, including many Republicans, have their own priorities. The expected budget face-offs as this session comes to a close suggest that the White House may have trouble getting its way on spending when the new, more heavily Republican Congress convenes next year.

“The lame-duck session may provide an early indicator of how successful the Bush administration will be in halving the deficit by controlling spending,” said Robert L. Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, an Arlington, Va.-based budget watchdog group.

In issuing his budget this year, Bush had pledged to cut the deficit in half within five years, largely by slashing spending not related to security.

One reason for congressional resistance on spending is that concern over the deficit and mounting costs for U.S. military operations in Iraq crosses party lines. In addition, the president’s requests for money for his favored programs collide with lawmakers’ desires to spend money on programs they like but which the White House is not enthusiastic about.

“Congress has its own priorities, and they’re going to balance those with that of the president,” said Amy Call, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).

A House GOP leadership aide added: “You’re not going to see us throw overboard all these programs that we’ve cared about for years because the administration wants to fund a bunch of new stuff.”

Completing work on spending bills for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 is expected to dominate the postelection session of the 108th Congress, which lawmakers are eager to conclude in short order -- in no more than two weeks, if possible.

The session will feature the first appearance on the Senate floor by John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) since losing his bid for the presidency. He has four years left on his Senate term. Defeated and retiring lawmakers also will be there, including Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who lost his seat in a bitter campaign.

“There’s no mood to be around here for a long time,” one Democratic leadership aide said.

Republicans especially favor completing work quickly on the spending bills and returning in January after their newly elected lawmakers take office, giving the party a stronger position to have its way on issues such as energy and limiting medical malpractice awards.

Although the spending bills are expected to dominate the next few weeks, other issues could come up.

“Just like leaving your teenager home alone for the weekend, lame-duck sessions are magnets for legislative mischief,” said Keith Ashdown, who monitors Congress for the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Lawmakers left town for the elections without finishing nine of the 13 regular fiscal 2005 spending bills for departments such as Justice, Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Interior and Transportation. Instead, they approved a stopgap measure to fund the government at 2004 levels until Nov. 20.

But with the last campaign barely over, the politicking already has begun for the next.

The lame-duck Congress will have to vote to raise the $7.4-trillion debt ceiling, which the Treasury Department has said will be breached Thursday. Democrats are pushing for a separate vote to make an issue out of what they contend is the Republicans’ lack of fiscal discipline.

To shield their members from a direct vote on the unpopular measure, GOP leaders may tuck the debt limit increase into an omnibus spending bill that House and Senate negotiators have been working on behind closed doors to stitch together.

The outgoing Congress is expected to avoid a confrontation with the White House by dropping a number of controversial measures that were attached to spending bills before the election.

These include a provision making it harder to travel to Cuba and another blocking administration rules that critics have said would deny overtime pay to millions of workers.

But lawmakers are considering proposals that would shortchange administration requests for funds for community colleges, space exploration and an arts initiative promoted by First Lady Laura Bush -- as well as a program promoted by the president in his State of the Union address this year to help newly released inmates. It would provide expanded job training, placement services, transitional housing and mentoring, including from faith-based groups.

Congress also has been considering providing only half of the $2.5 billion that Bush has sought for his initiative to spur political and economic reforms in return for foreign aid.

Said Greg Crist, a spokesman for the House Republican Conference: “I think the administration understands that there’s give and take, particularly in lean fiscal times.”

Still, members of Congress zealously guard their power over the purse and often consider their spending priorities, even when based on local interests, as important as the president’s.

For example, while the administration proposed slashing federal subsidies for air service to small towns, members of both parties whose districts include the airports have pushed to maintain funding for the program at about $100 million.

Similarly, in a program important to California, the administration proposed to give no money to states for jailing illegal immigrants convicted of crimes. A House bill would provide $325 million, while the Senate version would provide $220 million.

Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based taxpayer watchdog group, said he expected the catchall spending bill to be loaded with pork.

“Everyone seems to be in a celebratory mood on the Hill,” he said. “Why not celebrate with someone else’s money?”