The chairman and the ranking Democrat on a House subcommittee overseeing the presidential transition agreed after holding a hearing Monday to co-sponsor legislation that would free more than $5 million in presidential transition money.
Those funds have been held up by General Services Administration Administrator David Barram because he said he wasn't able to "ascertain" who won the presidential election.
Reps. Steve Horn, R-Calif., and Jim Turner, D-Texas, the chairman and ranking Democrat on the Government Reform subcommittee dealing with the issue, struck the deal after Barram testified that Janet Reno's Justice Department had issued a formal advisory supporting his denial of transition assistance to Bush.
Horn and Turner said they wanted to move the legislation to the House floor for quick passage before it adjourns its lame-duck session at the end of this week. If passed by the House, the bill would face Senate action and then require President Clinton's signature before the money would be released.
Horn and Turner said the bill would provide Bush and Vice President Al Gore immediate federal funds for transition assistance and would authorize government reimbursement of private funds used by either side for transition costs once a presidential winner is determined once and for all.
Bush was certified the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes, giving him the presidency. However, Gore has mounted numerous challenges to the certification, some of which remain unresolved.
During Monday's Capitol Hill hearing, Barram told the subcommittee he did not release the funds because federal law required him to "ascertain the apparent successful candidates" for president and vice president, which he said he could not do until the Florida recount cases were settled.
Barram's testimony came while the subcommittee heard from six other witnesses who oversaw transitions of several previous administrations.
The subcommittee was examining the Presidential Transition Act, which authorizes the GSA to provide funding and assistance for incoming and outgoing presidents to ensure a smooth transition between administrations.
During the hearing, subcommittee Vice Chairman Judy Biggert, R-Ill., said the close election between Bush and Gore should not have caused the GSA to abdicate its responsibility.
"The law gives GSA the authority to grant funds to the 'apparent' winner," Biggert said in a statement. "The law does not prevent the GSA from using a little common sense and making funds available to the likely winner."
Biggert said a third of "the precious time" for a presidential transition had already passed, "and yet no individual has been afforded the assistance provided for by the Presidential Transition Act. This assistance is needed, as the 1963 act stated, to promote the orderly transfer of executive power."
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