Nunn Panel to Begin Cheney Hearings Today

Senate confirmation hearings for Defense Secretary-designate Dick Cheney open today with none of the suspense and acrimony that marked action on the previous nominee, former Sen. John Tower, who was rejected last Thursday after weeks of bitter partisan debate.

Senators from both parties predicted easy passage for the popular Wyoming congressman, with unanimous committee approval possible as early as Thursday.

Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Monday that he does not expect any “impediments” to Senate approval of Cheney. Nunn spearheaded the drive to defeat Tower, a former senator from Texas, on grounds that his drinking, womanizing and consulting deals with defense firms disqualified him.

Delayed by Recess

Although Nunn predicted that his committee will vote favorably on Cheney by the end of the week, he noted that final action by the full Senate will be delayed by the two-week Easter recess, which begins Friday.

Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), the ranking Republican on the Armed Services panel, similarly predicted smooth sailing for Cheney. He said that the timing of the confirmation depends chiefly on how quickly the White House can send supporting documentation to Capitol Hill.

“I don’t mean to suggest (that) this committee is just going to roll over” and approve Cheney without close scrutiny, Warner said. “We will investigate any credible and relevant information. But it’s a quite different factual situation” from the Tower case, he added.

Tower, an abrasive political brawler and acknowledged heavy drinker, had been the subject of weeks of allegations about his personal and professional behavior before his confirmation hearings began in late January. He was voted down, 53 to 47, largely along party lines.

Warner said that the panel is awaiting Cheney’s financial statements, a report from the Office of Government Ethics on any possible conflicts of interest and results of the FBI’s background check.

Nunn, describing Cheney as “well-liked and well-respected” in Congress, said he doubts that the FBI report will contain any surprises.

Cheney, 48, spent Monday preparing for his first day before the committee by reading thick Defense Department briefing books and rehearsing his testimony with Pentagon and White House officials.