In light of Daschle revelations, I thought it was interesting to visit old articles to see what else WH was doing around October 18. I found this article - the link is no longer active - I have a link to access it though - title may not be the original one
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/My-stuff/message/137> THE WHITE HOUSE MADE A POWER PLAY TO RECEIVE EXTRAORDINARY POWERS, IF
> CONGRESS IS OUT OF SESSION, WITH ONLY THE APPROVAL OF DENNIS HASTERT!
>
> FROM THE WASHINGTON POST:
>
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35905-2001Oct22.html>
> By Dana Milbank
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Tuesday, October 23, 2001; Page A04
>
> Congressional negotiators balked at a White House proposal that would
> give the president new powers to keep the government open if Congress
> could not meet because of a crisis.
>
> The Bush administration last week suggested an emergency spending
> procedure that would allow a president, in consultation with
> congressional leaders, to continue government operations for 30 days at
> existing funding levels if spending authority expires during a time of
> crisis when Congress cannot convene.
>
> The White House dropped the proposal when congressional and
> administration aides could not agree on the structure of such a
> mechanism. In their haste to vacate Capitol Hill because of an anthrax
> scare, lawmakers instead agreed to extend interim legislation to keep
> the government running until Oct. 31 without making a policy for future
> emergencies.
snip
>
> The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Vice President Cheney's
> staff promoted the idea of giving the president authority to keep the
> government operating for up to 30 days if Congress could not convene.