Aspin May Get Pacemaker; His Work Piles Up

Doctors are considering the use of a pacemaker implant to regulate Defense Secretary Les Aspin’s heartbeat but he is expected to recover fully and to return to his job unimpaired, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

The pacemaker was portrayed as one option for treating the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or thickening of the heart muscle, from which Aspin suffers.

The disclosure came as Vernon Guidry, Aspin’s spokesman, announced that the secretary probably would be released from Georgetown University Hospital Friday. He was admitted Sunday night for shortness of breath, apparently associated with his heart problem.

Although Guidry said that Aspin is not likely to face any restrictions--except to stop playing squash--he conceded that the secretary probably would be urged to reduce his 14-hour work days.

Aspin’s illness and the increasing realization that his problem is serious raises new questions about how the defense chief would be able to handle his crushing workload.

Moreover, delays in appointments and FBI clearances have left almost all of the 44 top Defense Department slots still vacant.

As a result, some critics worry that the Pentagon will suffer a management vacuum that could leave the department far short of completing its workload.

Indeed, officials confirmed that, partly as a result of Aspin’s illness, the schedule that the Administration had set earlier--in which the Pentagon was to have submitted its budget to the Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday--has slipped by several days. If delays such as that continue, the department could find itself in a critical logjam.

Some critics say that the department already has developed something of a management vacuum in part because of Aspin’s fascination with geopolitics and national security. During his first several weeks in office, according to Pentagon officials, Aspin has devoted large blocs of time to long-term strategy sessions--often at the expense of pressing short-term internal problems.

Michael Krepon, president of the Henry L. Stimson Center, which monitors defense policy, said that Aspin’s preoccupation with long-term questions could leave him politically vulnerable on issues that affect his department.

“He’s enormously capable . . . but it may be just too much for a man even of his capabilities,” Krepon said.

Furthermore, he said, by delegating key decisions to military leaders, Aspin risks the possibility that they will turn out to be wrong. “He either has to delegate it to his senior staff--which he doesn’t have yet--or he has to do it himself.”

Defense officials said Wednesday that the secretary has improved steadily but the likelihood is that his underlying heart condition has worsened, at least slightly.