Nation: Eight for the Cabinet

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Both studied at Harvard, as did Regan, Lewis and Stockman; Baldrige graduated from Yale.

The makeup of the Cabinet could well change sharply this week, when Reagan is expected to name most or all of his remaining seven selections. He is considering a black woman, Jewel Lafontant, a Chicago lawyer, for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Moreover, for the most senior post in the Cabinet, Secretary of State, Reagan seemed to be settling on the highly controversial nomination of former NATO Commander Alexander Haig.

Unlike Reagan's choices so far, Haig might face a confirmation fight because of his role as a top aide to Henry Kissinger and then, during the last months of the Watergate crisis, as Richard Nixon's Chief of Staff. Democrats are expected to question Haig closely about whether he was involved in bombing decisions during the Viet Nam War, wiretapping of Nixon Administration officials suspected of leaking secrets, and the Watergate coverup. But Republicans rallied to their President-elect's apparent choice. Tennessee Senator Howard Baker, who will be majority leader in the new Senate, felt confident that he could find the 51 votes needed for confirmation.

The Republican New Right is not happy with Reagan's Cabinet carpentry. Except for Stockman, the ultraconservatives have been completely shut out so far. Collectively, Reagan's choices announce louder than anything he has said that he intends to run a pragmatic Administration, one not bound by ideology, and the right wing is vocally dismayed. Said Richard Viguerie, a leading hardliner, accurately enough: "It's the kind of Cabinet Jerry Ford or George Bush would have assembled. I'm sick to my stomach. Reagan gave all the winks and signals that he was going to be a true conservative, and he turns his back on us."

Besides lacking New Rightists, with the exception of Stockman, the Cabinet also has no political figures with strong followings of their own. Paradoxically, that might be an advantage in the style of collegial leadership Reagan intends to bring to Washington: the Cabinet members will not feel themselves impelled to push the interests of outside constituencies. But even some moderate Republicans fear that the Cabinet might be short on imagination and bold strategy. The success of the Administration, therefore, may depend heavily on Reagan's sub-Cabinet selections, which are not expected to be announced before January.

A willingness to consider innovative approaches may be sorely needed. In their memo to Reagan, Stockman and Kemp raised the threat of "an economic Dunkirk during the first 24 months of the Reagan Administration." The Congressmen foresaw a multisided crisis: a new recession and rising unemployment brought on by skyrocketing interest rates; "hemorrhaging" federal deficits that would 'fan an already raging inflation; a "credit crunch" caused by excessive Government borrowing to cover the deficits, leaving little loanable money for businessmen and consumers. They also prophesied that unless the Iran-Iraq war ends speedily, world oil inventories will disappear by February or March, leading to "panic" price boosts—perhaps to as much as $50 per bbl. from $32 now—and a return of the shortages and gasoline lines of 1979.