Rumsfeld Voices Confidence in Army Secretary

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that beleaguered Army Secretary Thomas E. White was not to blame for the military’s secret lobbying to save a weapon program that Rumsfeld plans to kill.

Speaking with reporters before testifying on Capitol Hill, Rumsfeld said he believes that White was not aware of contacts last week between some Army officials and congressional supporters of the Crusader artillery program. Rumsfeld interpreted those contacts as disloyal efforts to undermine his push to cancel the $11-million weapon system.

“No, I don’t hold him responsible for that. He didn’t have any knowledge of it,” Rumsfeld said of documents supporting the Crusader that were faxed to members of Congress shortly after White was told by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz that the program would be canceled.

The Pentagon is expected to officially announce the cancellation today, a senior Defense official said. Defense Department officials, who contend that the money could be better spent on emerging technologies, must still convince Congress to end funding for the mobile long-range 155-millimeter howitzer.

But the Crusader has strong supporters on Capitol Hill, among them key senators and representatives whose constituent contractors will be hard hit if the system is taken out of development.

Rumsfeld said Tuesday that someone on White’s staff was “way in the dickens out of line” and that he would await the findings of an investigation by the Army’s inspector general, which is due today, before taking any action. It appeared unlikely that he would punish White, 58, a retired general and decorated Vietnam War veteran who is the Army’s top civilian official.

After an article appeared in USA Today on Tuesday saying that White would be fired over the Crusader imbroglio, Rumsfeld sent White a copy with a note attached, dismissing its content.

Asked at a Pentagon news conference whether he remained confident in White’s ability to carry out his duties, Rumsfeld said: “Yes, I do. I certainly have confidence in Secretary White.”

At the White House, President Bush’s press secretary, Ari Fleischer, echoed that sentiment.

“The president has confidence in Army Secretary White. He thinks he’s doing a good job in his post,” Fleischer said.

White has been under fire for weeks because of questions about ties to his former employer, Enron Corp. He headed Enron Energy Services, a subsidiary of the collapsed energy giant, before becoming Army secretary and had dozens of contacts with senior Enron officials during the firm’s collapse last year while he sold millions of dollars’ worth of Enron stock.

He also is under investigation by the Defense Department’s inspector general for his handling of personal business matters on trips using Army jets.

When it emerged last week that Army officials had gone behind Rumsfeld’s back to lobby Congress to spare the Crusader system, White’s job had seemed in peril.