The Old Administration: Getting in Some Last Licks

A DECEPTIVE atmosphere pervades Washington whenever one Administration gives way to another. Power seems to ebb steadily until the incumbents appear to be little more than caretakers. Yet, until Jan. 20, Johnson and his lieutenants retain considerable authority. By exercising it, the Democrats can create commitments--and problems --that will affect Richard Nixon for months or perhaps years to come.

Since November, foreign-policy decisions have been subject to formal consultation between the old leaders and the new. On the domestic side, however, there has been some effort to create "plenty of momentum," as one Administration aide put it, to keep Great Society programs thriving.

Fundamental Change. Last week the Department of Housing and Urban Development gave the first operating grant --$19 million to Seattle--under the Model Cities program, which was enacted in 1966. Twenty other grants are anticipated this month. Similarly, the Labor and Defense Departments last month expanded their Concentrated Employment Program, which trains jobless men for posts on military installations. On all such spending programs, Nixon has indicated that he intends to conduct a full review.

At Health, Education and Welfare, Secretary Wilbur Cohen recently began a fundamental and potentially far-reaching change in federal policy governing the eligibility of relief recipients. At present, some potential recipients must undergo investigations of need that often prove demeaning. Under Cohen's proposed ruling, eligibility would be established on the basis of the applicant's own declaration. Twenty-seven states already use this controversial practice, usually relying on spot checks to discourage fraudulent declarations. Cohen has not yet issued a formal ruling to make the system nationwide, but he is likely to do so--and that would pose a serious problem for his successor, Robert Finch. If Finch were to reverse the ruling, he would surely enrage the liberals who have been arguing for the change for years. If he were to enforce it, he would anger critics of the welfare program who believe that the change would only encourage widespread fraud.

Northern Issue. Another problem concerns the enforcement of school desegregation. Until recently, Washington has been using its punitive powers against school districts in the South, withholding federal subsidies from 113 of them for failure to comply with HEW guidelines. Now the Government is considering similar action against one school district in Middletown, Ohio, and another in Union Township, N.J., both of which stand to lose their subsidies if they do not meet federal integration requirements. At present, HEW has 63 investigators in the South and only 40 in the rest of the country. By mid-January, the number outside the South will be increased to 68; investigations in nearly 40 Northern jurisdictions are under way. The entire issue of desegregation guidelines will be an extremely touchy one for Nixon, who was elected with strong support from the white suburbs yet would like to improve his low standing among Negroes.

At the Securities and Exchange Commission, Manuel Cohen--who is likely to be replaced as chairman after Inauguration Day--hopes to launch a comprehensive study on the impact of mutual funds, pension funds, foundations and other institutional investors on the securities markets. The study has been authorized by Congress and endorsed in principle by Nixon. But during the campaign, the incoming President criticized Washington for its "heavyhanded" regulation of the securities field. Cohen fears that if he does not move quickly to get the investigation well under way, his Nixon-appointed successor will not press the study too vigorously.

At the Department of Transportation, Secretary Alan Boyd is putting through a change in procedure that would require states to hold two sets of public hearings rather than one before highway-construction projects can be approved. This would allow opponents of a given route more opportunity to make their case. John Volpe, Boyd's designated successor, has spoken against the change.

Lyndon Johnson is also being urged by some of his aides to present a list of major legislative requests to the Democratic-controlled Congress. Among them: comprehensive tax reform to close existing loopholes and modify the oil-depletion allowance; an expansion of child-health programs; and a new package of consumer-protection measures, including one dealing with the quality of eggs. Even if the President were to make the requests, the chances of enacting any of them before Jan. 20 are nil. But such a maneuver would give congressional Democrats a program to work with--perhaps at the expense of Nixon's.

Leave It to the New Boys. While a number of the outgoing Administration's final actions may seriously limit Nixon's flexibility, there is nothing legally or ethically improper about them. And although some Nixon aides may feel that there is an organized effort to make Nixon a prisoner of established policies, there is no evidence of a grand plot to this end. Some Johnson men, in fact, want to give their successors a bit of elbow room. The Budget Bureau, for example, has advised operating departments to leave to the new Administration any "moves, purchases and other actions that can be delayed."

With Jan. 20 and its problems almost upon him, Nixon was determined last week to enjoy a final period of privacy and relaxation. After giving Daughter Julie in marriage to David Eisenhower, the President-elect left frigid, flu-ridden New York (he had a mild case himself) for Key Biscayne, Fla. He has purchased adjacent homes there that will serve both as a winter White House and a legal residence; the Nixons are planning to sell their cooperative apartment on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. Apart from a single meeting with foreign-policy advisers in Florida late in the week, Nixon had a family holiday, dividing his time between Key Biscayne and two privately owned islets in the Bahamas, Grand Cay and Mermaid Cay.

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