Big Backfire

On paper, it looked like the perfect way to put Republicans on the spot in an election year. But last week, put into practice, the scheme blew up in the Kennedy Administration's face.

At issue was the President's proposal to create a new, Cabinet-level Department of Urban Affairs, with Federal Housing Administrator Robert C. Weaver, a Negro, at its head. Republican Senators and Congressmen opposed the idea of the department on grounds that it would merely add another cumbersome, costly layer to the federal bureaucracy. Southern Democrats inevitably were hostile to Weaver's appointment.

Rubbing It In. Faced with all but certain Capitol Hill defeat, President Kennedy five weeks ago withdrew his request that Congress enact legislation establishing the department, ordered its creation under his reorganization powers. Thus, if either the House or the Senate did not veto the plan within 60 days, the Department of Urban Affairs would automatically achieve status. Kennedy made it perfectly plain that if Congress did turn down the plan, he would blame Republicans for being 1) unwilling to help the nation's cities, and 2) anti-Negro. And Weaver himself rubbed in the point. Said he on television: "There is a large segment of the population which will interpret a vote against this program as a vote against the concept of having a Negro in the Cabinet."

Thus the stage was set for two days of frantic maneuvering last week. White House strategists hoped to bring the proposal to a vote in the Senate--where it seemed more likely to win approval than in the House. The Senate's Government Operations Committee had completed its hearings, but Chairman John McClellan (who opposed the measure) requested a brief delay before submitting the committee report. Since it then appeared that the House would withhold its vote until the Senate acted, Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield graciously agreed: "I believe it is only fair and proper that the Senate observe the normal rules of procedure."

Upsetting the Applecart. But just a few minutes later, a House Republican upset the applecart. Michigan's Representative George Meader, onetime staff director of the Senate Government Operations Committee, announced that he would force the urban affairs plan to a House vote two days later. In the Senate, Mansfield hurried back onto the floor and announced that he would move to discharge McClellan's committee and obtain a Senate vote before the House could act. It was a fatal move: tough old John McClellan took it as a personal affront and began rounding up votes to defeat the discharge petition.

He did not have to look far for support. A discharge petition, taking a bill out of a committee's hands, is an unusual move, which is against Senate traditions. Arriving on the Senate floor to fight the petition, McClellan growled to a colleague: "I don't know if I'm a Democrat any more." Thundered he to the Senate: "The brightness of the legislative sky is clouded, the brilliance of statesmanship is dimmed, and the light of fairness and justice in this chamber is darkened today by this deplorable action." For the first time in 20 years, every member of the Senate was present to vote--and the roll call was a stunning rebuke to the Administration. The count against the discharge petition was 58-42. Among the naysayers were 26 Democrats, including several from Northern states. The next day the House administered the coup de grace, overwhelming the Department of Urban Affairs, 264-150. Among the in Democrats who voted for rejection were 18 from the North, Midwest and West.

Despite Lopsided Majorities. In the flush of their victory, Republicans were quick to counterattack. Representative Bob Wilson, chairman of the House Republican Campaign Committee, fired off a telegram to the White House, suggesting that Robert Weaver be named to succeed Abraham Ribicoff, who plans to resign as Health, Education and Welfare Secretary to run for the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen gleefully assured a press conference that if Weaver were named to the HEW post, "not a single Republican vote" would be cast against him.

At his own press conference, the President fought back feebly. "In regard to Dr. Weaver," he said, "I see now that various people who opposed the Urban Department are now ready to support him for any Cabinet position he wishes--Defense, State, Treasury or anything else . . .I'm sure he is grateful for those good wishes for a Cabinet position where there is no vacancy. Mr. Weaver will get along all right, but I think the question is the people in the cities are the ones who have been defeated."

All in all, it was a humiliating Administration setback. Far from making Republicans look bad, the President had merely succeeded in losing--despite lopsided Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate.

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