Liberal Withdraws Name for White House Budget Post

Robert Greenstein, the director of a liberal Washington think tank, withdrew as a candidate for the deputy White House budget director’s job on Friday, becoming the latest Democratic casualty of the Republicans’ November landslide.

Greenstein, the longtime director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, was offered the post as chief deputy to Budget Director Alice Rivlin before the November election. On Friday he said he decided to back out of the job as a result of the Republican takeover of Congress.

Known in Washington as a strong, independent advocate for increased spending on anti-poverty programs, he said he believed he could work more effectively outside the Clinton Administration to protect those programs from Republican budget-cutters in Congress.

Greenstein, who administered the food stamp program in the Agriculture Department during the Jimmy Carter Administration, has built a reputation in Washington for good research on budget issues developed by his think tank.

The center’s research is often influential in helping to determine the outcome of legislative battles, and Greenstein said he was reluctant to give up his independent voice at a time when the GOP plans to reduce welfare and other poverty programs.

At the same time, however, Greenstein conceded that he would have faced a difficult and protracted battle to win confirmation from the Republican Senate because of his liberal views. He is clearly out of step with both the new Congress--and the new direction of the Administration itself.

Even moderate Democrats blanched when news of Greenstein’s appointment first surfaced in the fall, complaining that it sent the wrong signal at a time when the Administration needed to move toward the political center.

Greenstein insisted that his decision to withdraw was not the result of any policy conflicts with the Administration. But he has long opposed tax cuts for the affluent and the middle class, arguing that they are inequitable and soak up resources that could be devoted to helping the poor.

“I think I would have been confirmed, but I think it could have taken several months, and those months will be the most critical time for determining the fate of the programs that I care most about in Congress,” said Greenstein.

Separately, Republican lawmakers are beginning to temper their earlier demands for the immediate removal of Robert Reischauer as director of the Congressional Budget Office, as they are still embarked on a search for an appropriate successor.

Reischauer, characterized by Republicans as a partisan Democrat, opposes the GOP’s supply-side budget theories. Incoming House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tex.) had said he planned to replace Reischauer in January with a supply-side proponent.

But this week, Armey began to back away from his vow to fire Reischauer immediately. Apparently, Armey’s new statements reflect growing Republican concern that the party’s economic policies will not be taken seriously if Republicans install an ideological conservative at CBO who lacks broad credibility. Several top Republican candidates have also turned down the post, leaving the new congressional leadership shorthanded.

Still, Reischauer is not likely to remain at the CBO for more than a brief transition period. He is said to be in contention for the post as president of the Brookings Institution in Washington.