Who's In? Who's Out?

Reagan struggles to form a Cabinet able—and willing—to serve

Early in the evening, a yellow Ford pulled up to the southwest entrance of the White House. Transition boss Edwin Meese and Nevada Senator Paul Laxalt piled out and proceeded to the Situation Room in the basement. They were about to make their nightly call to Ronald Reagan at his Pacific Palisades home and now they felt it necessary to use the most tap-proof telephones in the nation to discuss the most top-secret political topic in town: Who would be members of his new Cabinet?

Meese, Laxalt, a few other aides and Reagan were about the only people in the country who knew for sure last week what was going on. Outside Reagan's home, reporters stood long vigils waiting vainly for scraps of information. When Reagan emerged from conferences with his lieutenants to attend a series of private dinners, he merely smiled away correspondents' questions. In Washington rumors and speculation buzzed louder every day, reproducing a touch of the he's-down, he's-up, he's-down-again hysteria of '30s fight broadcasters in Reagan's radio-announcing days.

Long lists of "all-but-certain" Cabinet members appeared daily in the nation's press, only to change with the next edition. Like Kremlinologists, Washington's mighty attempted to read vast significance into who was placed next to whom at dinners. Meese created a stir at one by sitting next to the wife of former NATO Commander Alexander Haig. But Haig, who was also present, would say nothing, and Meese kept repeating his favorite line: "Those who know aren't talking, and those who are talking don't know."

There was much more to the hubbub than deliberate mystification. Meese insisted that the selection process was proceeding on schedule, and at least the first appointments are expected to be announced this week, about the time incoming Presidents generally disclose their choices. But there were strong indications that the "Reaganauts," as the transition aides have taken to calling themselves, were having unexpected trouble making some of their boss's first choices stick. That was surprising enough for an Administration-to-be that boasts it will bring efficient business-management techniques to Government. But it was even more surprising because Reagan was known to have decided on his initial top choices at meetings with his California kitchen cabinet before Thanksgiving, providing ample time to notify and check out the chosen.

One problem that turned out to be severe was the danger that a nominee would have a conflict of interest—or the appearance of it—between his private affairs and his Government job. Reagan is the first President-elect to staff a full Cabinet under the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, which tightens financial reporting for top Government officers and sets up elaborate rules to guard against a clash between their federal and private lives. Says Meese: "A President-elect used to call up a prospective Cabinet member. He would consult with his wife, call back in 24 hours and the deed was done. Now he has to sit down with a lawyer from the transition team, his own lawyer, his accountant and a number of others."