Bush may agree to long-term measure to avoid shutdown

President Bush would sign a long-term continuing resolution extending government operations into next year, but the measure must not increase spending beyond fiscal 2002 levels, and Congress must complete work on a Defense bill first, Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels said Wednesday.

"Assuming that Defense is addressed responsibly and we have a signable Defense appropriations bill behind us, then I think the president would defer to Congress about the duration of a CR," Daniels said. "And yes-it's quite conceivable that a CR that went into next year would be manageable," he added. This would be true, he said, even if Congress passes none of the other spending bills.

House GOP leaders are espousing the idea of a long-term CR. Some have said they would like to come back after the elections and pass a CR that would extend until February or March.

"I'm open to that," Majority Whip Tom DeLay, D-Texas, said Wednesday. But the idea is likely to run into serious opposition. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., has said he opposes such a scenario, and appropriators are likely to try to kill the idea, as well.

Appropriators noted that when Congress gets back to business next year, it will probably be looking at some sort of Defense supplemental, possibly to fund a war in Iraq. Tacking on the responsibility of finishing 11 or 12 other spending bills could overload appropriators, particularly as they are busy at that time of year holding hearings to prepare for the next wave of appropriations bills-which would probably commence just as fiscal 2003 bills were being finished.

Moreover, Appropriations Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., said a long-term CR could jeopardize many homeland security programs-such as Coast Guard, FBI and the Transportation Security Administration-that are destined for big increases.

"Those kinds of programs don't get funded where they need to be," Young said.

While saying it was "essential" that the CR "not be a vehicle for greater spending," Daniels left unclear the baseline level of fiscal 2002 spending at which the CR should be set. He said the level could include some emergency spending passed last year, but not "obvious one-time" expenditures.

Daniels added that he was optimistic the fiscal 2003 Defense spending bill would be passed before the fiscal year ends, noting congressional leaders were striving to finish the legislation. He did not rule out accepting a short-term CR of a week or two before a defense bill is complete.

Bill Ghent contributed to this report.