Clinton Asks Congress To Reopen Government In Christmas Spirit

President Clinton asked Congress Saturday to reopen the government “in the spirit of the holidays” as the budget impasse that has idled 280,000 federal workers entered its ninth day with no movement in sight.

With nine government departments and scores of agencies lacking funding, officials searched for ways to provide minimal services. Smithsonian leaders announced plans to open the National Museum of American History with private funds for a special holiday festival; the Veterans Affairs Department mailed delayed checks to veterans and their survivors; and the Department of Health and Human Services received permission to transfer billions of dollars to states to meet January payments for welfare and Medicaid.

But, despite the optimism Clinton expressed in his weekly radio address that “we can end this impasse and pass a seven-year balanced budget,” the partial government shutdown remained exactly as it was when Congress left town Friday for Christmas:

“There are no meetings, no phone calls, no hits, runs or errors, nothing,” said a White House spokesman. “The budget story has not moved.”

“Nothing is scheduled,” said a House leadership aide.

The fate of legislation the Senate passed Friday to return federal workers to their jobs by declaring all of them essential remained uncertain. “It is very controversial,” said the aide. “It is not going to be an easy sell.”

Downtown Washington was eerily empty Saturday with the Smithsonian museums shuttered except for their gift shops and movie theaters that bring in revenue during the holiday season.

An American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) local in Baltimore began running radio ads calling for a “work-in” at Social Security Administration headquarters to demonstrate the concern of union members over their work not being done. “Our members wanted to do something, not just sit home and watch this happen on TV,” said John Sturdivant, president of the AFGE.

Three months after the beginning of the fiscal year, Congress and the president are mired in the worst budget crisis in history because they have yet to agree on six of the 13 spending bills that pay for government operations. Congress gave the District of Columbia government a temporary reprieve Friday to operate through Jan. 3 with the money it collects from District taxpayers and other sources.

The Department of Health and Human Services also received authorization Friday to make payments to states for the federal share of the joint welfare and Medicaid programs states administer to help the poor. States are due $3.9 billion for the next quarter of payments for Aid to Families with Dependent Children. HHS officials will begin processing payments Tuesday for about 4.7 million families that include about 9 million children.

The department, which also matches state payments for the Medicaid health care program for the poor, has only $9.3 billion to send to states to meet commitments of $22 billion, according to HHS spokesman Melissa Scolfield. “We will only be able to give them about 40 percent of their request. We think it will only last them a month.”

Veterans Affairs officials said 3.3 million checks to disabled and poor veterans and veterans’ survivors were mailed Friday night as soon as it became clear that Congress would pass and the president would sign legislation authorizing the payments. “We hope these checks will arrive by the end of December,” said VA spokesman James Holley.