Reagan Names James Miller Budget Chief

President Reagan on Friday chose Federal Trade Commission chairman James C. Miller III, a conservative economist who favors reducing the size of the federal government, as the Administration’s new budget director.

Miller, 42, said he was “tremendously honored” and would find the man he succeeds, David A. Stockman, “a hard act to follow.” Stockman is resigning Aug. 1 to join a New York investment banking firm, Salomon Brothers.

White House spokesman Larry Speakes said Miller will move into his new duties “as quickly as possible.” The nomination is subject to Senate confirmation.

Speakes said White House chief of staff Donald T. Regan brought the President a list of candidates for the Office of Management and Budget post and that “the President made the choice” during a 40-minute meeting at Bethesda Naval Hospital in which other matters were also discussed.

Speakes said Regan informed Miller of the President’s decision in a telephone call from his limousine while being driven back to the White House from the hospital.

At the time that Speakes made the announcement to reporters in the White House press room, he said Reagan had not yet spoken to his new nominee.

Although Speakes had insisted that there were still several names on the list, sources both in Congress and in the Administration said last week that the choice of Miller was a virtual certainty. Other candidates had dropped out of the running or been eliminated.

Speakes quoted Reagan as calling Miller “an outstanding individual with considerable experience and background.”

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), said he was telephoned by the White House last week and asked how he would feel about Miller getting the Cabinet-level post. “I think he’s good,” Dole said.

Critic of Regulation

Miller, a longtime critic of federal regulation who once said he has “a very healthy respect for what the marketplace can accomplish and a very healthy skepticism of what the government can accomplish,” shares Stockman’s goal of reducing the size of the federal establishment.

But he is likely to differ in tactics from Stockman, who occasionally got in hot water for outspoken remarks before congressional committees or in interviews.

“We won’t be able to clone Dave Stockman,” Regan said last week. “The man has been phenomenal.”

The new budget director takes over at a time when the Administration’s efforts to cut deeply into federal programs and reduce budget deficits are at a standstill.

Efforts to achieve a compromise between House and Senate budget writers collapsed last Wednesday. Speakes said the Administration believes there is “still an opportunity” for the two sides to get together.

Reagan to Meet Leaders

The spokesman said Reagan is expected to meet with congressional leaders next week to discuss the budget and other issues and will probably make some telephone calls to members of Congress in support of his budget cuts.

During his four years on the FTC, Miller modified the pro-consumer approach taken under Michael Pertshuk, the chairman appointed by President Jimmy Carter, who remained on the commission as a member and often clashed with the new chairman.

Outlining his own philosophy last November, Miller said, “Our proper role is not to tell entrepreneurs how to run their businesses nor is it to impose our views on consumers in a fit of Big Brotherism. Rather, it is to keep markets competitive and free of fraud and deception.”

Miller served previously at the OMB in 1981. At that time he helped draft a Reagan executive order that gave the budget office authority to clear all new regulations before they are published in the Federal Register. The order helped make OMB one of the most powerful federal agencies.

Headed Various Offices

Miller served as head of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and as executive director of the President’s Task Force on Regulatory Relief.

He also has worked for the Transportation Department, the Council of Economic Advisers and the Council on Wage and Price Stability.

In a late afternoon meeting with reporters at the Federal Trade Commission, Miller said that “while I intend to follow the time-honored Washington tradition of not saying much publicly before one’s confirmation by the Senate, I do want to express how tremendously honored I am that President Reagan has asked me to serve as his director of OMB.”

Miller described Stockman as “a very difficult act to follow,” but said he looks forward to going back to the budget office.

“This is a wonderful opportunity and an enormous challenge,” Miller said. “If confirmed I intend to do the best I can to fulfill the trust the President has placed in me.”