House Freezes Fund-Raising Probe Democrats, Some Gop, Want Focus On More Than White House

The House on Thursday night blocked continued funding for its own committees past March 31 - a move that stemmed in part from dissatisfaction with a House probe of campaign fundraising practices.

The surprise action forced House Republican leaders to meet into the night, searching for a compromise.

The setback for the GOP leaders came for two reasons:

Democrats were upset that the House campaign fund-raising inquiry has focused only on the White House. They want Republican fundraising practices examined as well.

A small group of conservative Republicans - 11 in all - were upset that the overall budget for House committees would go up by 13 percent under the bill that was blocked. They said that Republicans should be more frugal, particularly as the GOP tries to balance the budget.

Joining forces, the two groups succeeded on a 213-210 vote in blocking the committee funding bill from coming to the floor. That delayed plans for the House to adjourn early Thursday night for a two-week recess.

In other news regarding the campaign fund-raising controversy, FBI director Louis Freeh confirmed Thursday that the grand jury investigating campaign-finance abuses is focusing on whether a foreign government tried to buy influence with the administration and Congress with campaign contributions.

“That is really the heart of, part of, our grand jury hearings,” Freeh told a Senate hearing. He did not identify the country, although published reports have focused on China.

After the House vote Thursday night, Majority Leader Richard Armey, R-Texas, said he would ask the House to approve a stopgap funding measure to keep committees operating past March 31.

The core question facing the House was the budget and ground rules for its investigation of campaign fund raising. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., chairman of the House Governmental Reform Committee, insisted his panel’s investigation will be impartial - and tough.

“This will be a fair investigation,” he said, adding defiantly, “As long as I can stand on my two legs, I’m going to do my dead level best to get to the bottom of this scandal.”

He said his inquiry would look only at fund raising in the presidential race - and not in congressional campaigns - because his committee only has jurisdiction over the executive branch. Allegations about improper fund raising in congressional campaigns will be handled by the House ethics committee and the House Oversight Committee, he said.

Burton said he plans to focus on several questions, including: “Were we selling influence overseas? … Were we selling foreign policy? … Were we selling business deals?”

Burton brushed off Democratic complaints that he already has run a one-sided inquiry by issuing more than 30 subpoenas for White House records without the approval of Democratic committee members.

And he denied allegations that he tried to coerce a Democratic activist and lobbyist into raising money for his campaign, calling it retaliation for his scrutiny of the White House.

But Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., urged the Republican leadership to remove Burton as head of the inquiry. An American lobbyist for the Pakistani government has accused Burton of pressuring him for campaign contributions.

Numerous Democrats accused the Republicans of trying to cover up congressional fund raising abuses by limiting their investigation to the White House.

“Why just the White House and not this House?” asked Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas. “You would think, with so many shakedowns, somebody would be concerned about shaking up the system.”