New Father Stockman Has Mind on Duty

Adding a new chapter to the lore of Washington workaholism, Budget Director David A. Stockman was rushed into a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans on Friday only 8 1/2 hours after assisting at the pre-dawn birth of his first child, a daughter named Rachel.

“I had a little sleep and I’m only here for a little while,” he said somewhat apologetically as he headed into Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole’s office carrying the sheaf of papers that is his trademark.

While Stockman was winning praise from some quarters for his dedication to duty, one Republican aide declared: “His wife ought to divorce him.”

Stockman and Senate Republicans were huddling to come up with a plan to save a Reagan Administration-backed budget proposal that has suffered severe setbacks this week.

Dole (R-Kan.) said that when Stockman called to tell him about the birth of 6-pound, 6-ounce Rachel, the budget director also chided him for his lack of success in winning support for the fiscal 1986 budget proposal: “He said, ‘I delivered. Why can’t you?’ ”