Panetta Vows to Bring Discipline to White House

Leon E. Panetta, President Clinton’s newly named chief of staff, vowed Tuesday to bring to the White House and to the President a tough new brand of discipline to help Clinton achieve health care reform this year and meet Republican challenges in the midterm elections.

Panetta stressed that, before agreeing to accept the new post, he requested and received a pledge of full trust and confidence from Clinton, as well as authority to make changes that he considers necessary in a White House staff plagued by loose management.

The former California congressman and director of the White House Office of Management and Budget said he got similar assurances from First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, both major players in White House operations.

On Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers are hoping that the shake-up will bring a new White House strategy for what appears to have become a make-or-break issue for Clinton’s presidency: health care reform. What they want is a shift away from the Administration’s hands-off posture in congressional negotiations and clearer signals about what Clinton will and will not accept as lawmakers struggle to fashion compromises on the complex and politically sensitive issue.

The situation has grown so critical that one senior Democratic House aide, asked what the White House should be doing to salvage its health reform effort, answered only half-jokingly: “You mean, apart from starting all over next year?”

In fairness, it was at the urging of congressional leaders that the Administration stood back from the early skirmishing in the five committees--three in the House and two in the Senate--that claim jurisdiction over health care. Now, however, the process has led to a dangerous drift, with some committees producing bills that differ drastically from one another and at least one being unable to produce any legislation at all.

Congressional leaders in the health care fight are hoping that Panetta will recognize the weaknesses of that strategy and assert control.

“We’re going to need a very active role for the White House in these crucial negotiations,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on health and the environment.

Added Rep. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), a member of the House Democratic leadership: “The White House has been a little too disengaged on health care. It needs to dirty its hands a little more. You can’t expect the Congress to go into uncharted waters with no direction. That’s dangerous.”

Salvaging health care is clearly Panetta’s top priority. If the White House fails to mount an effective campaign to achieve what Clinton has made his top domestic priority, then nothing Panetta might do to increase managerial efficiency is likely to matter much.

At the same time, soon after leaving his post as budget director in mid-July to succeed Thomas (Mack) McLarty as chief of staff, Panetta will evaluate the White House staff and recommend changes to Clinton.

Panetta said he will thoroughly review all White House operations and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of key personnel. He declined to say what personnel changes he has in mind.

When interviewed jointly with McLarty on a television show, Panetta was asked whether he intended to bring in his own press secretary. “Obviously I’m going to bring in some of my own people to try to assist me in that effort, sure,” he replied.

McLarty was then asked whether Dee Dee Myers might be replaced as White House press secretary. He said he would be working with Panetta on such decisions “but ultimately Leon has to get the team in place that he feels is the right team for the White House at this time.”

Because Panetta made no further comment, it was widely construed that he intends to replace the first woman to serve as White House press secretary. White House sources later said that Panetta has no plans to replace her. Panetta and McLarty, who will become counselor to the President, were greeted by applause at the White House Tuesday when they sat side by side for the first time at the regularly scheduled senior staff meeting. Some aides have expressed relief that their new chief, an experienced Washington hand, is likely to bring more efficiency to the White House.

There is little doubt that Panetta will be a much tougher boss than McLarty, a Clinton boyhood friend from Arkansas who was considered too nice and accommodating, as well as too inexperienced, to be an effective chief of staff.

In an hourlong luncheon session with reporters and in several television interviews, Panetta said he would bring the same tough discipline he demonstrated at the budget office to the White House staff.

“You’ve got to be tough every day in dealing with the budget,” he declared. “You’ve got to be able to say ‘no’ to various departments, various agencies, to the Congress. You’ve got to try to ride a tough road--and I’ve been able to do that.”

Because Clinton always gave him full authority on budget issues and followed his recommendations, Panetta said, he is confident that he will have the same kind of relationship with the President as chief of staff.

McLarty had been reluctant to make personnel changes and some aides questioned whether Clinton had authorized him to do so. Panetta said that authority to make staff changes, whether incremental or more extensive, was an “absolutely essential condition” of his accepting the job.

Panetta indicated that he would try to manage in the style of James A. Baker III, who served as one of President Ronald Reagan’s chiefs of staff and briefly served as chief of staff for President George Bush. Baker, Panetta said, “had the trust and confidence of the President and basically ran a tight ship.” As chairman of the House Budget Committee during the 1980s, Panetta worked with Baker on budget issues.

Some of Clinton’s fellow Democrats--even some of his own aides--have described the President as undisciplined and as the primary cause of loose management at the White House. Panetta told reporters at the luncheon session that part of his role in serving the President “will be to see that he gets that discipline” so that he will have more time to focus on major issues.

Panetta said his own focus will be “on putting the office of the presidency together and serving the Presient in the best way I can. And you can bet that whether I’m stubborn or whether I’m nice or whether I’m mean, whatever those qualities may ultimately be, that’s the direction I’m going to be pointed at.

“The President does not want to waste his time having to deal with management issues in the White House,” Panetta declared. “He really does want to focus on the issues that impact the country. He’s got to face a lot of tough issues during the day and that’s what he wants to focus on and that’s what I hope to do is give him the room so that he in fact can be President and doesn’t have to waste time being manager at the White House.”

Clinton’s loose management style has existed since his 12 years as Arkansas governor, however. And a number of lawmakers said that Panetta’s success or failure will depend on whether, after such entrenched habits, Clinton is willing to adjust to a more focused and disciplined management style.

“One of the key things of that job (chief of staff) is being able to boss the President some and I don’t know if anyone can do that,” said Sen. John H. Chafee (R-R.I.), a moderate who shares Clinton’s goal of producing a health care plan that guarantees coverage for every American.

Though Clinton unquestionably faces an uphill fight on health care, Panetta expressed confidence that Congress will pass it, along with two other major measures: a crime bill and legislation implementing the new World Trade Organization, which will succeed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Although political analysts generally believe the Republicans will make substantial gains in November’s congressional elections, Panetta said that, if those three major pieces of legislation pass, “I think we can bring a helluva legislative report to the American people and that’s what gives you momentum in an election.”

Times staff writer Karen Tumulty contributed to this story.

* HOUSE PANEL GIVES UP: Key committee says its membership is hopelessly at odds on health care reform. A15

Chief of Staff’s Duties

As gatekeeper to the Oval Office, the White House chief of staff:

* Oversees President’s schedule

* Coordinates meetings with senior staff and Cabinet officers

* Manages White House staff

* Serves as public spokesman for President’s programs

* Negotiates on his behalf with congressional leaders

* Serves as President’s envoy to business, labor, etc.

Source: Times Washington Bureau