Clinton Spares Congress' Money

Declines to use line-item veto authority on legislative appropriations bill

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Oct. 16) -- After wielding scalpels on spending bills with various degrees of enthusiasm, President Bill Clinton has let one slide by: the one that funds Congress and its activities.

The president has not been shy about applying his new line-item veto authority to the appropriations bills that have crossed his desk, but the $2.2 billion legislative appropriations bill flew past without a scratch.

"An administration would normally show a lot more deference to Congress" on its own spending bill than on the 12 other bills, one administration official told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. An item "would have had to be pretty egregious" for Clinton to strike it from the legislative appropriations bill, the official said.

The president first used his new veto power in August on several items in the balanced-budget agreement. He's used it this month on spending bills that pay for military operations and construction.

Clinton did today slice $8 million from the appropriations bill that funds the Treasury Department and U.S. Postal Service. The money would have paid for postal workers to switch from an older retirement system to a newer one.

The president "highly values the professional service rendered by employees of the federal government, but at the same time, we have a generous package of benefits that have been structured," said White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry. "The president, on balance, felt it was better to keep priority spending where it's needed."

In Other News:

Thursday Oct. 16, 1997

• Democratic Contributors Got Hefty Government Contracts
• Clinton Spares Congress' Money
• Reno Survives House Committee Grilling

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• Gore Praises Hollywood For Imagination, Ethics
• DNC Pitches In In N.J.
• Herman: N.Y. Garment Shops Violate Labor Laws
• More Trade Tensions With Japan

Special Coverage:
• The Money Trail: The White House Tapes