THE WEEK: NOVEMBER 26-DECEMBER 2

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NATION

SENDING IN THE TROOPS

President Clinton went on national television to make his case for sending 20,000 U.S. troops to join the nato peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. The President said U.S. prestige in brokering the latest peace agreement was at stake and that a stable Bosnia was in America's national interest. Polls showed that a majority of the public was still waiting to be convinced. But on Capitol Hill, hostile skepticism melted into resignation as legislators acknowledged that the President had the constitutional authority to send the troops without their consent. Congress prepared to vote on a limited resolution of support, thereby allowing members to back the troops without forgoing a choice opportunity to criticize the President.

GIMME MY BUDGET

White House and congressional negotiators trying to work out a compromise for a seven-year balanced budget plan spent the week angrily talking past one another. Nor was there much progress made toward enacting measures needed to fund the government past the latest deadline of Dec. 15. There was, however, one exception: the President agreed to a $243 billion defense appropriations bill ($7 billion more than he wanted) because, he said, it would enable him to pay for U.S. troops in Bosnia.

CONGRESSIONAL CLEANUP

Heeding the public clamor for cleaner government, the House gave final approval to a sweeping reform bill on lobbying and sent it to the President, who has said he will sign it. The legislation imposes strict registration rules on lobbyists, requiring them to disclose their clients, the issues they have worked on and the money they have been paid.

ZOOM!

Despite his fears that the measure will increase highway death tolls, President Clinton signed into law a bill repealing the federal 55 m.p.h. and 65 m.p.h. speed limits. The legislation, which will allow states to set higher roadway speeds, also provides $6 billion in needed highway funds.

HOW FAR DID GOPAC GO?

House Speaker Newt Gingrich found himself in the middle of a new ethics controversy after the Federal Election Commission released internal papers from GOPAC, the political-action committee Gingrich once headed. The FEC charged that the documents--filed in a lawsuit against GOPAC--indicate the group improperly subsidized Gingrich's 1990 campaign, in which he narrowly won re-election. One document, a transcript of a gopac meeting, refers to ''a quarter of a million dollars in 'Newt support.'" The Speaker denounced the accusations as "totally phony."

WHITEWATER RIPPLES

At the Senate Whitewater hearings, Republicans accused White House aides of improperly obtaining information in 1993 from federal investigators probing the finances of David Hale, a former Arkansas judge and investment executive. Hale, who has said Bill Clinton pressured him into making a questionable loan when Clinton was Governor, has since pleaded guilty to fraud charges, and is cooperating with the Whitewater independent counsel.

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