3 Cabinet Posts Filled in 2nd-Term Shake-up : Appointments to Education, Energy Depts. Seen as Signaling Intent to Abolish Those Agencies

Continuing the second-term shake-up of his Administration, President Reagan on Thursday named new Cabinet secretaries to head the Education, Energy and Interior departments--with the apparent goal of abolishing the first two agencies.

Reagan campaigned for President in 1980 on a platform of abolishing the Education and Energy departments--both created under his predecessor, Jimmy Carter--but later backed away from that pledge in the face of stiff congressional opposition. Now, the President will move cautiously during his second term to achieve his original goal of eliminating the two entities, the White House signaled Thursday.

Philosophy Professor Reagan selected:

--William J. Bennett, 41, a former philosophy professor and current chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, to replace Terrel H. Bell, who has resigned, as education secretary.

--Donald P. Hodel, 49, the current energy secretary, to replace William P. Clark as head of the Interior Department. Clark, a longtime Reagan confidant, is resigning to return to his San Luis Obispo County ranch.

--John S. Herrington, 45, a California lawyer and current White House personnel director, to replace Hodel as energy secretary. Herrington has virtually no experience in the energy field but is regarded as an expert in personnel management who could ease the merger of Energy Department functions into the Interior Department and other agencies.

In addition, Reagan announced that he was nominating one of his senior advisers, Richard G. Darman, 41, as deputy Treasury secretary.

At the White House, Darman-- who held positions in the Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford administrations--has been the principal aide to Chief of Staff James A. Baker III, designated by Reagan Tuesday to be the new secretary of the Treasury in a surprising job swap with Donald T. Regan. Darman, therefore, will accompany Baker to the Treasury.

He will replace Richard T. McNamar, 45, who said Thursday that he is eager to return to California, where he was a financial analyst before he joined the Reagan Administration.

The nomination of Hodel, whose policies of rapid energy development have been strongly opposed by environmentalists, had been expected. But the selection of Herrington, according to presidential aides who requested anonymity, had been hinging on how seriously Reagan wanted to pursue his goal of abolishing the Energy Department.

Bennett, according to the aides, had been in competition for the education secretary’s job with Boston University President John R. Silber.

The nominations of Hodel, Herrington and Bennett were announced late in the afternoon. Reagan already had met with the three separately and then disclosed his selections at a meeting of the Cabinet, where the main topic of discussion was which federal agencies to abolish or merge.

The President directed Hodel and Herrington--after they are confirmed by the Senate--to send him proposals for reorganizing their departments. The major unresolved problem in abolishing the Energy Department, according to a White House official who asked not to be identified, is where to place its responsibility for manufacturing nuclear weapons. Congress always has insisted that such responsibility lie with a civilian agency, not the Defense Department.

In addition, Reagan ordered Bennett to study “the proper educational structure” of his designated department and the “role of the federal government in education.” Reagan always has believed that Washington played too large a role in setting education policies, which he regards as primarily a local responsibility.

White House spokesman Larry Speakes, who announced the nominations, cautioned that Reagan has not yet made a firm decision on trying to abolish the two departments. But he said that it is a goal the President again is looking at seriously.

But Reagan clearly signaled his intent to abolish the Energy Department by nominating Herrington to head it. When asked what qualifications Herrington--a campaign advance man for Reagan in 1980--has to be the secretary of energy, Speakes responded that it is his knowledge of civilian and defense personnel management. Herrington’s initial job in the Administration was as assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower.

At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Reagan was presented with a proposal for creating a new Department of International Trade and Commerce. This new entity basically would represent a merger of the Commerce Department and the independent Office of U.S. Trade Representative.

After considerable debate and disagreement among Cabinet officers about the wisdom of creating this new department, Reagan said that he would take the matter “under advisement,” according to an anonymous White House official.

Reagan asked the Interior and Defense departments last week to send him a proposal for consolidating the Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers--a White House-initiated move opposed by many Western congressmen--but this subject was not discussed at the Cabinet meeting.