WASHINGTON INSIGHT

FORMER NIBS DIBS: The hottest gossip item in the White House concerns that ultimate of bureaucratic issues--jockeying for primo office space. Now that Thomas (Mack) McLarty is no longer the chief of staff and will surrender his spacious corner suite to Leon E. Panetta, where will McLarty hang his hat? No ruling yet, but Panetta is to move into his new digs next week. Here are the choices: McLarty could move into the office being vacated by White House counselor David Gergen--who, in turn, is moving into a plush suite on the State Department’s seventh floor, bumping L. Craig Johnstone, director of the Office of Resources, Plans and Policy, to a less prestigious locale. Unfortunately, Gergen’s old office is in the basement, not on the coveted first floor with the Oval Office. . . . Another possibility: McLarty could take over the office of President Clinton’s senior adviser George Stephanopoulos, which is next door to the Oval Office, but is very small and, of course, is very occupied. He also could take over the space that is assigned to Clinton’s counselor Bruce Lindsey just across the hall from Stephanopoulos. But it is small and has no windows. Then there is the dining room next to the Oval Office, which could be turned into office space. . . . Clinton has deep affection for McLarty, whom he has known since kindergarten, but will he give up his dining room for him?

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APROPOS MALAPROP: Congressional consideration of defense spending in the post-Cold War era often involves balancing Pentagon desires with the impact on jobs. As Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) demonstrated last week, the line between those two can become blurred for lawmakers from states hit hard by defense cutbacks. . . . During floor discussion on whether to continue building B-2 Stealth bombers--against the wishes of the Pentagon--Feinstein praised the aircraft, saying that it “can deliver a large payroll, precision or carpet.” The verbal slip was amended in the next day’s Congressional Record to read payload. California would retain 22,000 high-paying jobs and $2.5 billion in defense contracts if the Senate’s July 1 vote to build long-range bombers is adopted by the House.

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SAME OLD GANG: If it seems like Bob Dole, the quick-witted and quick-tempered Republican from Kansas, is the only senator ever quoted in the newspaper, you aren’t far wrong. A UC Irvine professor, Richard McKenzie, has studied the number of times each senator was quoted over a 15-month span in 108 newspapers. Dole, whose post as Senate minority leader makes him the highest-ranking Republican official in Washington, beat out the next most-quoted senator by more than 2 to 1, 26,794 times to 11,741 for Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.). Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) was third (10,811), followed by Democrats Sam Nunn of Georgia and Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York. All five hold leadership positions or chair powerful committees. . . . Another sure route to fame is to get in trouble, like Sen. Bob Packwood, the Oregon Republican accused of sexual harassment. He was the sixth most-quoted. Merely being popular and influential with colleagues isn’t enough. The leading contenders to replace the retiring Mitchell as majority leader, unquestionably by virtue of their reputation among colleagues, are nowhere in the news: Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) was 86th out of 100; Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.) was 45th.