WASHINGTON INSIGHT

VACUUM, PART II: Meanwhile, the White House counsel’s office appears to be assuming functions traditionally left to the Justice Department. As noted here last week, two lawyers in the counsel’s office hail from the same Little Rock, Ark., law firm as Hubbell and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. . . . It will be a while before Janet Reno, Clinton’s fallback choice for attorney general, can begin work. Senate hearings on the nomination of the Dade County (Fla.) state attorney won’t begin until at least the second week of March. . . . Adding to the woes of delay at Justice: The unsettled ethics case of FBI Director William S. Sessions. Clinton has ordered no action until Reno reviews the matter.