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January 4, 1996
Web posted at: 1 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Refusing to follow the Senate's lead, House Republicans Wednesday rejected a measure to end the 20-day partial government shutdown. President Clinton immediately blasted the decision, calling it a cynical strategy by GOP members to get their way in negotiations to balance the budget.
"Each day this shutdown continues, the consequences grow worse," a grim-faced Clinton said at a news conference. "It is not a natural disaster. It is an unnatural disaster born of a cynical political strategy." (306K AIFF sound or 306K WAV sound)
Although the GOP-dominated Senate had voted unanimously Tuesday to reopen federal agencies through January 12, the House voted 206-167 against an attempt by Richard Gephardt, D-Missouri, to force approval of a similar measure.
The budget deadlock has furloughed 280,000 federal workers and compelled more than 500,000 employees to work without pay.
Clinton and congressional Republicans continued their budget talks Wednesday, even as the verbal sniping between the two sides resurfaced. (Clinton elaborates 102K AIFF sound or 94K WAV sound)
White House spokesperson Mike McCurry referred to House Republicans as "a gruesome group." Not to be outdone, Speaker Newt Gingrich's press secretary Tony Blankley labeled Clinton and Vice President Al Gore the "budget-busting barons of bankruptcy."
Nonetheless, McCurry later said there was "continued progress" and even a "cordial and candid spirit" during a Wednesday evening meeting between Clinton and GOP leaders. He said politically sensitive specifics, including a tax cut, were being discussed, but said it was difficult to gauge whether the negotiators were any closer to a deal.
Both sides agreed to continue the talks Thursday afternoon.
Clinton stressed that the pressure of the government shutdown was not influencing his stance on specific issues.
"This is only casting a shadow over our talks," he said. "It's time to stop holding the federal workers hostage in this process."
House Republicans maintain that only the pressure and pain of the shutdown will force Clinton to accept a balanced budget.
Blankley said the House Republicans "simply don't find completely trustworthy the representations that the president and the White House have made."
Striking a slightly more conciliatory note, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Clinton need only submit a seven-year balanced budget based on Congressional Budget Office estimates for the House to be willing to seriously consider reopening the government.
Four GOP House members whose constituents include many furloughed federal workers voiced discontent with the current budget crisis at a joint news conference. One of them, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Virginia, acknowledged that the issue was splitting the party
"I think that our strategy is a very flawed strategy, I think we are seeing cracks and fissures in the Republican conference," he said, adding, however, that the goal of a balanced budget in seven years has served to galvanize members of the GOP.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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