Budget Work Continues In Post-Christmas Lull -- Dec. 26, 1996

GOP Wants To Hear Specifics On Budget, CPI Changes -- Dec. 9, 1996

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Clinton Nears Final Budget Decisions

By Jill Dougherty/CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN, Dec. 27) -- President Bill Clinton is likely to make his last substantive Decisions on his fiscal year 1998 budget today, according to an administration official.

Some key Decisions involve settling disputes over program proposals between five Cabinet agencies and the Office of Management and Budget. An administration official says two of those agencies are the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the State Department. Most, if not all, of the agencies have multiple program requests that OMB is questioning.

The president must also confirm some dates contained in the budget and give final confirmation to OMB on some overall issues, a cross-check on his previous Decisions.

Even after the president makes his final Decisions, this official says, OMB still has to flesh out other details, which are not made on the presidential level. This means they will be going back and forth with the agencies for another couple of weeks. In mid-January, final details are "locked in."

This official adds there is a misperception that things are "on hold" until the president makes his Decisions, but he says there has been a constant stream of paper between the agencies and OMB since OMB completed its budget meetings with Clinton last week. As CNN has reported, Clinton was given a set of budget documents to review earlier this week to make his final Decisions.