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Who Picks Up the Tab at the White House?

The White House is a museum, a public building and the president's residence. Money for its operations comes from taxpayers, political parties and private groups. Federal agencies send over staffers to work on special projects, and private groups provide volunteers.

Given the ongoing whirl of activity at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., administration officials said this week that taxpayers did not shoulder any additional costs for the 938 guests that President Clinton invited to spend a night or two in the White House.

Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees White House budget accounts, found the administration's assertion hard to accept. "I think most Americans would find this claim laughable," he said at a Tuesday hearing on Capitol Hill.

Kolbe and his fellow Republicans tried to sort out the difference between "nonpolitical" and "political" events at the White House. But he and his colleagues also wanted to capitalize on the controversy over Clinton's coffees, sleep-overs and fund-raising practices.

Kolbe said he plans to ask the General Accounting Office for an audit, because the financial ledgers at the executive residence have not been examined since fiscal year 1991. The subcommittee also indicated it would ask the White House to submit records on how much it cost Clinton to entertain friends and campaign donors at the White House.

But material provided to the subcommittee by administration officials provided a snapshot of how some White House activities are organized and how they are financed:

"Nonfederal" events: The White House social secretary gives the chief usher, who is in charge of the executive residence, information that indicates whether an event is political or nonpolitical. Political events are those attended only by members of one political party, and the tab for the affair is sent to the national party or the sponsoring political group.

Over the last four years, administration figures show, the White House has been reimbursed $1.75 million for political events. They include Clinton-Gore campaign coffees, receptions for Democratic National Committee (DNC) trustees, state events, Democratic members of Congress, meals and holiday parties.

Nonpolitical events are those open to the public or any political party, usually scheduled in advance and are held by groups that the president and first lady agree to host. The sponsoring group reimburses the White House for the expense of the event.

As examples of nonpolitical events, White House spokesman Barry Toiv said the Clintons served as hosts for a Kennedy Center Honors reception, a Save the Children dinner, a Fulbright Foundation dinner, a Miss America foundation dinner, a Washington Opera dinner in honor of singer Placido Domingo and a gathering of the National Newspaper Association.

Over the last four years, sponsoring groups reimbursed the White House $1.88 million for their events.

Based on the data provided by Kolbe's subcommittee, it appears that reimbursable activities at the White House tripled during Clinton's first term when compared to reimbursements in 1993 when George Bush was president.

When asked about Clinton's events, Toiv said, "Do the president and first lady like to entertain in the residence? Absolutely. Does the taxpayer pay for those events? No. I'm not sure what the issue is."

Federally funded events: Taxpayers pay for a variety of government activities at the White House, including state dinners for visiting foreign dignitaries.

White House data showed the State Department spent $607,604 on White House events in fiscal 1996, up from $474,963 in fiscal 1995. The departments of Education, Commerce and Veterans Affairs also paid several thousand dollars each for White House events in 1996.

White House staff: Thirty-six employees work in the White House residence, and the average length of service is 14.5 years, according to data supplied Kolbe's panel.

The positions include a doorman, an executive chef, four assistant chefs, one pastry chef, eight maids, six butlers and a maitre d'.

Overall, the Executive Office of the President will employ 1,015 full-time staffers in fiscal 1998, said Ada Posey, acting director of the White House Office of Administration. The full-time staff will be supplemented by 170 persons on loan from other federal agencies, she told Kolbe.

The projected staffing levels end Clinton's commitment to shrink the White House staff by 25 percent. Posey said "new policy needs" in the White House's drug control office and staffing needs in the counsel's office led the president to abandon his pledge.

Kolbe said budget figures show overtime for White House staffers has increased by 38 percent over the last four years. During that time, the White House also employed 41 paid "volunteers" to help write speeches, analyze policies and perform political chores.

The White House recently stopped using staff paid by the DNC but plans to take 30 detailees from federal agencies to work in the "White House Office" next year. About 1,000 unpaid volunteers also will help out at the White House, with most of them assigned to open and sort mail for the correspondence office.