Clinton Stands by Halperin Nomination : Congress: White House will defy Senate opponents and resubmit its choice for assistant defense secretary.

President Clinton, in a departure from the way he handled earlier controversial appointments, has decided to resubmit to Congress next year the nomination of Morton H. Halperin as an assistant secretary of defense.

The White House decision to renominate the 55-year-old civil libertarian and defense expert sets the stage for a highly visible--and possibly risky--confrontation with conservatives, who strongly oppose the nomination. Halperin is one of the few high-level Clinton nominees who has not yet been approved by the Senate.

The Senate Armed Services Committee ended the 1993 congressional session by sending the Halperin nomination back to the White House without taking any action. The new hearings could spark resentment among moderate lawmakers whose support Clinton needs on other issues.

But White House officials said that after a year of wrangling with the lawmakers--and withdrawing the nominations of Zoe Baird and C. Lani Guinier for high-level Justice Department posts--the President has decided he must stand firm on Halperin.

Administration officials conceded that if Clinton bowed to conservatives’ opposition on the Halperin nomination, he might risk an even-bigger embarrassment--being tagged as a quitter--than he would if he insists on a vote and the lawmakers ultimately reject the appointment.

The strategy places Clinton on the same risky terrain, though with far less at stake, that George Bush and Ronald Reagan faced in toughing it out over their respective nominations of former Sen. John Tower (R-Tex.) as secretary of defense and former appeals court Judge Robert H. Bork as a Supreme Court justice.

Halperin, whose post would put him in charge of U.S. participation in global peacekeeping efforts, was personally chosen for the job by Defense Secretary Les Aspin, who served with him as a junior Pentagon official in the late 1960s and has been a close friend ever since.

But Halperin’s activities since he left the Pentagon have enraged conservatives on the Armed Services Committee, who contend that he is too radical to be in such a sensitive post. Halperin was an outspoken critic of the military as Washington director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

One factor in his favor is that he did relatively well in defending himself against the conservatives’ allegations earlier this month during a one-day hearing of the committee, which provided the one chance he has had to face his accusers.

To most onlookers, Halperin effectively debunked the more serious charges, including that he had opposed all counterintelligence operations, traveled abroad for secret meetings with terrorists and blocked the sending of tanks to Somalia last September.

“I think we feel really good about the way the hearing turned out,” an Administration official said later.

Also a plus is that, unlike the cases involving the two earlier Clinton appointees, the Defense Department post is a relatively obscure one, so the nomination has not sparked the widespread public passions that surrounded the Justice Department spats.

“The big difference is that nobody outside of the Beltway either knows or cares who he is, so the chances of his being a liability with the public are pretty slim,” said Charles Cook, a Democratic political consultant. “This is really inside stuff here.”

Even so, Administration officials conceded that the failure of the committee to act this year was something of a setback, partly because it broke the momentum that had been building in favor of the nomination and gave conservatives another two months to reload their guns.

Senate Republicans have already submitted more questions for Halperin to answer, and it is likely that they will attack his record again when Congress reconvenes in January. The Armed Services Committee has promised at least one more hearing on the nomination.

It still is not clear whether the nomination is likely to make it to the Senate floor after Congress reconvenes in late January.

Republicans on the Armed Services panel remain united in their opposition to Halperin, and Administration nose-counters concede that they need more votes on the committee to win its approval.

At the same time, moderate Democrats have yet to disclose whether the one day of hearings removed enough of their doubts to enable them to support the nomination.

In particular, committee Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) continues to hold his cards close to his vest.

“This is an unfinished story,” a congressional strategist who is close to the deliberations said.

There is also one additional wrinkle. In the eight months since Halperin was tapped for the post, Congress has reduced the number of assistant secretary posts at the Defense Department, forcing the Pentagon to downgrade one of its slots.

Although Administration officials insist that Halperin’s post is not being considered for possible downgrading, the squeeze could provide an easy chance for the White House to bail out if the battle with Congress proves too costly. Nomination to a lower-level post would not require Senate confirmation.

Halperin’s strongest suit is that he has the firm support of the nation’s foreign-policy Establishment, including a bevy of former secretaries of state and defense from both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Cook pointed out that Clinton’s need to avoid alienating that constituency, many of whose members are already criticizing his foreign policy, may help keep the White House behind Halperin, at least until the conservatives start scoring some points.

But, he added, it is unlikely to be a very rewarding stand, even for a President who is seeking to look like a loyalist. “It’s probably a no-win situation,” he said.