Budget Chief Drops Talk at Male-Only Club After Protest

James C. Miller III, the Reagan Administration’s budget chief, canceled a Monday night speaking engagement at the Cosmos Club after learning his appearance at the male-only club for the capital’s elite would violate federal regulations.

The federal personnel rule was pointed out to Miller by Ann Lewis, executive director of Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal group that often leads the charge against Reagan Administration policies.

Miller responded Monday with a letter to John B. Farmakides, president of the club.

“I regret to inform you at this late date that I will not be able to deliver the lecture for which I was scheduled this evening,” Miller wrote. “Within the last few days, I have been made aware of a federal personnel regulation, as follows:

“ ‘Federal personnel acting in their official capacities shall not participate in any conferences or meetings held in facilities in which discrimination is practiced on basis of sex, religion or national origin as well as race.’ ”