Tower Selected as Defense Chief : He and Bush Promise Pentagon Cutbacks, Procurement Reforms

Ending a lengthy and presumably humiliating delay, President-elect George Bush selected former Texas Sen. John Tower as his secretary of defense Friday, and both men immediately pledged to pare military spending and to reform the tangled defense procurement process.

Other transition appointments, including that of Rep. Jack Kemp as secretary of housing and urban development, are expected as early as Monday. Transition sources said Thursday that Kemp had accepted the job after meeting with Bush. Also expected early next week is the selection of Chicago-area transit official Samuel K. Skinner as secretary of transportation, sources said.

Tower’s appointment was made after an extensive FBI investigation into allegations raised about the former senator’s private life and his connections to military contractors, for whom he served as a consultant after leaving elective office in 1985.

Breakfast With Bush

Bush was briefed on the FBI report Thursday and met with Tower for breakfast Friday, a few hours before the appointment was made public. Tower’s selection had been forecast as far back as late November, but the investigations took longer than expected, transition aides said.

Investigators are said to have spent much of their time probing Tower’s substantial dealings with the defense industry. Allegations stemming from complaints by his former wife about rumored womanizing were said to remain largely unsubstantiated.

In defending Tower, Bush, clearly perturbed that his supporters had been among those critical of the expected selection, said he was “totally satisfied” with the results of the investigation. Bush called the allegations “a lot of rumors that proved to be groundless.”

“He has not only my full confidence, but it is strengthened, if anything, by the process that he has gone through,” Bush declared. As for those who disagreed with the selection, the vice president said curtly: “They weren’t elected. I was.”

Both Bush and Tower seemed most intent on derailing any criticism of Tower’s pro-growth defense record and his position on the Strategic Defense Initiative, which conservatives had criticized as insufficiently enthusiastic.

As the influential chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Tower, 63, shepherded President Reagan’s massive military buildup--the largest in peacetime history--through that chamber. Critics have suggested that Tower’s background marks him as a spender, not the reformer needed to rein in the Defense Department because of budget constraints.

Bush has frequently said that he would demand reform, particularly since the Pentagon procurement scandal earlier this year.

Served as Arms Negotiator

Bush transition aides say that Tower’s background--which includes a stint as a Reagan Administration arms control negotiator after he left the Senate--gives him the stature necessary to impress Congress and motivate the Defense Department bureaucracy.

Bush indicated in his remarks Friday that he agreed, and he suggested that the hawkish Tower’s willingness to curb defense spending would have the impact of anti-communist President Richard M. Nixon’s opening relations with a communist country.

“One, I think that (spending) image is wrong; and, two, Nixon went to China,” Bush said. When asked to clarify what he meant, Bush joked: “Interpret it any way you want. It’s profound.”

Tower told reporters after his selection was announced that his extended wait for the appointment--which his allies had likened to a public humiliation--was “not comfortable.”

Embraces Reform

But, in attempting to still any doubters, he embraced the notion of Pentagon reform.

“The bottom line is that we must provide at least as much, if not more, defense for less money,” he said.

The President-elect has indicated that he will limit defense spending growth to the rate of inflation, and he alluded to discussions about cuts in remarks before he introduced Tower.

“Some tough choices have to be made, but I believe that, with the proper approach to reform and commitment to efficiency, we can continue our policy of peace through strength while making progress in holding the line on spending,” he said.

“I’ve spoken at length with my friend Sen. Tower about these challenges, and I am impressed with his commitment to reform.”

Easy Confirmation Seen

Although he avoided answering most questions Friday, Tower indicated several potential avenues he might pursue after what is expected to be an easy confirmation by the Senate, where he spent 24 years before departing in 1985.

He said that some already planned weapons systems “might conceivably be canceled” in light of budget constraints. He advocated, as Bush has, a two-year budgeting system.

As for conventional forces, Tower said that the United States “must rationalize our force structure,” words that could be taken by Western European allies to suggest a lessening of American commitments overseas. But he hastened to add that political--as well as military--considerations would influence any decision.

“I would not advocate for the immediate future any significant force reductions in Europe,” he added.

Both Bush and Tower sought to assure conservatives that their commitment to the SDI program--or “Star Wars,” as it has come to be known--is ongoing, with Bush declaring that they are “strong supporters” of the space-based missile program.

Negotiating Tool

But Tower suggested Friday, as he has before, that he considers the program important in large part for its “negotiating leverage” in discussions with the Soviets. That characterization has angered those conservatives who do not consider the program negotiable.

“I understand the value of SDI not just from its deterrent potential but also as a very, very valuable negotiating tool,” Tower told reporters Friday.

In addition, Tower seconded Bush’s call for conventional arms talks, citing it as a way to test the intentions of Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who last week announced unilateral cuts in Soviet troops stationed in Eastern Europe.

But, pressing more immediately on Tower and the Bush transition team is the problem of choosing Pentagon deputies. Neither would specify names, but Bush said that he wanted “experienced management types” to assist Tower. He added that the former senator would not have subordinates foisted on him by Bush or the transition team.

“It will be his call,” Bush said.

Tower Courts Congress

Tower took pains to court Congress, whose cooperation he acknowledged he would need to force through any significant reforms. He said he would begin discussions with congressional defense leaders once he has discussed specifics with Bush.

At Tower’s side as he was introduced Friday was National Security Adviser-designate Brent Scowcroft, who, with Tower, will form the nucleus of Bush’s national security team. The two men had served together in 1987 on the Tower Commission, which investigated the Iran-Contra affair and faulted President Reagan’s management style as being lax.

In addition to the Pentagon post, Bush worked Friday on his economic team. Sources said the President-elect has chosen Thomas L. Ashley--a close friend, Yale classmate and former Democratic congressman from Ohio--as one of his two appointees to the National Economic Commission.

Under the law that set up the bipartisan panel to give the new President advice on how to curb the federal deficit, Bush must appoint one Democrat and one Republican.

May Name Gov. Bellmon

For his GOP appointee, Bush is leaning toward Oklahoma Gov. Henry Bellmon, a former senator who was the senior Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, the sources said. However, Bellmon’s staunch opposition to “supply side” economics has caused opposition from conservatives, who would prefer Richard Rahn, chief economist of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Next week, Bush will turn his attention to the remaining Cabinet positions, which he hopes to have filled by Friday.

Transition aides described Kemp and Skinner as certain to be announced, probably early in the week. Bush refused to comment, telling reporters only to “stay tuned in.”

And Bush denied an account by aides that announcements were delayed Thursday after he had read newspaper reports of his plans.

“No, I wasn’t that ballistic,” he said, using a favorite euphemism for anger.

Louis W. Sullivan, president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, was described as still the probable appointee to the post of secretary of health and human services, although that selection was not expected to be announced until mid-week.

Four other posts--at the departments of the Interior, Labor, Veterans Affairs and Energy--remain undecided, as Bush casts about for candidates who will satisfy the disparate groups he is courting during his transition.