Senate Confirms Miller, 90-2, to Succeed Stockman at OMB

The Senate on Friday confirmed James C. Miller III to succeed David A. Stockman as director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The vote, taken without debate, was 90 to 2. The negative votes were cast by Democrats Tom Harkin of Iowa and Donald W. Riegle Jr. of Michigan.

Miller has been chairman of the Federal Trade Commission since 1981 and previously headed the OMB’s office of regulatory affairs and directed a task force on regulatory relief led by Vice President George Bush.

Unlike Stockman, who was at the forefront of the Administration’s budget-cutting offensives from the time President Reagan took office, Miller is expected to place more emphasis on the management function of OMB.

Team Player

He also is expected to maintain a lower public profile than the controversial Stockman, who left OMB on Aug. 1 to take a job on Wall Street. During Miller’s confirmation hearings, the 43-year-old economist was characterized by supporters and critics alike as the ultimate team player.

Miller’s nomination cleared the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously, and the only opposition was from people who did not question his abilities but took issue with his philosophy as FTC chairman.

In that role, he was linked with the weakening of many rules restricting business operations, an application of his well-documented devotion to less government regulation.

Seeks Budget Cuts

Miller declined to give interviews before his confirmation but told the governmental affairs panel that he would press for budget cuts as fiercely as Stockman.

He said he would not rule out any approaches--whether cutting so-called entitlement programs such as Social Security or raising taxes--unless Reagan ruled them out.

“Nothing is off base, nothing is sacrosanct,” Miller testified at his confirmation hearing. He said that it was “an unreasonable assumption” to believe that the economy could grow its way out of deficits of $200 billion a year and that further cuts will be needed.