Congressional leaders ponder lame duck session

Congressional leaders who had hoped a special lame-duck session would make it easier to resolve final differences with the White House over taxes and spending now face the prospect of having to legislate in a cloudy and uncertain political environment.

House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and White House Chief of Staff John Podesta met today in Gephardt's office to plan for the session, which begins next week.

The first order of business is likely to be yet another continuing resolution to keep the government running once the current CR, which lasts through midnight Nov. 14, expires.

Said one House Democratic source, "I don't think anyone feels the need to do one-day CRs any more."

But White House Press Secretary Jake Siewert indicated the incoming Congress should not be given license through a long-term continuing resolution to finish off these issues, although he declined to say specifically that Clinton would veto a long-term CR.

As for the lame duck itself, Siewert said, "We think the session of Congress that's set to begin ... early next week should be spent ratifying existing agreements that we had on education and other budget issues and resolving our outstanding differences in a way that is honorable."

He said the administration had no specific timetable for publishing a rule related to ergonomics, the issue that appears to be holding up completion of the Labor-HHS spending bill.

A spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Armey predicted the lame duck session would be brief, with Thanksgiving serving as a backstop.

"People are going to want it over with. People are exhausted," she said. But another leadership aide said House Republicans are "pumped" and believe their strategy of staying in session rather than cutting a deal on spending to go home helped them keep their majority.

For that reason, the aide said Republicans would rather go day- to-day than "cave" to an outgoing Democratic president, particularly if Bush is declared the winner.

The dynamic could be somewhat different in the Senate, where Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., might find it easier to move legislation through a lame duck session while he still has a 54-46 majority.

Nevertheless, Lott has not yet signaled how he plans to structure next week's session, and has remained equally mum on Daschle's proposed power sharing plans under a 50-50 Senate split.

But one Senate Republican aide noted that in general terms, "Because of this election, you are forcing bipartisan compromise. I don't think Republicans have a choice." Daschle has been flexing his muscles to reflect the strong gains Senate Democrats made in the elections, and has said if there is a 50-50 Senate split, Democrats will insist on a power sharing arrangement that deals with committee chairmanships, committee ratios, staff funding, and office space.