Domestic Policy

WASHINGTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton will set up shop in the West Wing of the White House, alongside the president's senior staff members, where she will help formulate policy on health care and other domestic issues, according to White House officials.First ladies have customarily operated from the East Wing of the White House, with their official contributions limited to social duties or charitable causes.Presidents' wives have always exercised influence and power, but they have often been reluctant, in their public comments, to acknowledge the full scope, for fear of offending voters.

WASHINGTON -- There's a certain irony in the fact that George Bush, who was rejected for a second presidential term in part because he focused too much attention on foreign policy, has forced foreign policy onto the plate of a successor determined to concentrate on domestic policy.Bush spent his last days in the White House paying attention to matters far from American shores, as he always chose to do. Aides often made the point that he preferred to do so because he could act on his own in the foreign-policy realm, whereas he had to cope with a contentious Congress on domestic affairs.

Mark Gearan: assistant to the president and deputy chief-of-staffDavid Watkins: assistant to the president for office of administration and managementChristine Varney: deputy assistant to the president and Cabinet secretaryBruce Lindsey: assistant to the president and senior adviser and director: Office of PersonnelL John Podesta: assistant to the president and staff secretaryNancy Hernreich: deputy assistant to the president for appointments and schedulingEli Segal:...

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Bill Clinton is in the business of sending messages these days. That purpose was apparent in his first post-election news conference and in the staff appointments to his transition team.The latter probably were more important than they might appear to the naked eye. The message in this case was directed at the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Democrats who have some reason to believe they can expect a role in the new administration. And the message was: Stay cool.

Washington.--In St. Louis, whither he went in search of restored pre-eminence, the incumbent president sometimes seemed, amazingly, to be the third man, even a bystander on stage.Whatever suspense surrounded the debate leaked from it early when Mr. Bush became defensive about his most recent attempt to put Governor Clinton on defensive. The president began, ''I said something the other day where I was accused of being like Joe McCarthy.'' Mr. Clinton played the Prescott Bush card (refraining from saying, ''And you're no Prescott Bush'')

WASHINGTON -- Reform of perquisites does not begin at home for President Bush, the White House said yesterday.Mr. Bush, who is leading the charge to force Congress to give up many of its tradition-bound privileges of office, is resisting an attempt by Democratic lawmakers to turn the tables on him.Indeed, the administration is expanding the benefits for White House employees.Door-to-door chauffeur service for top Bush aides has recently been extended to include Clayton Yeutter, the new domestic policy chief, and W. Henson Moore, the deputy White House chief of staff, as well as six others.

Los Angeles. -- You will like Bill Clinton's foreign policy -- as soon as he has one. Anyway, if you don't like what you hear, he will change it in a paragraph or two.Since we face the prospect that the governor of Arkansas could become the 42d president of the United States and commander in chief of the most powerful military machinery in the world, the time has come to consider what the man thinks about the world and our place in it.Judging by the evidence,...

EVENTS IN the past few months have dissipated the aura of invincibility that once surrounded George Bush, and Democratic presidential contenders from Massachusetts to California are leading the chorus for his ouster.At this point, however, the president should be more concerned with the other voices that are joining that chorus -- those of the increasing number of Americans who have fallen prey to a faltering economy.It's not that Bush, who just a few months ago was riding an unprecedented wave of popularity in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf war, hasn't provided other reasons to ponder his ability to win re-election next year.

THAT CURIOUS sound emanating from the White House is the gurgling and gasping of President Bush as he tries to keep from drowning in a swell of economic and political bad news. Without an economic rudder to guide the nation through hard times, Bush is now grasping at tax cuts, crafted by conservative House Republicans and benefiting primarily the rich or near-rich, that he shunned just days ago. He should be developing firm domestic policy of his own.Never mind that Bush has said this isn't the time to break the deficit-reduction agreement.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, shaken by a dramatic drop in his popularity and growing discontent within his own party, is considering a shake-up in his administration that would include replacing John H. Sununu as chief of staff.Several Bush advisers say they expect the changes to take place before the end of the year, perhaps as early as next week, although the timing may depend upon finding another position for the controversial chief of staff. Mr. Sununu may be asked to move to another post within the administration or to take a key position in the president's re-election campaign, they said.