Trouble

In the 90th Congress' first reappraisal of major Great Society programs, the House of Representatives last week confirmed what had long been predicted: the Johnson Administration's domestic-spending bills are in deep trouble.

By a margin of 232 to 171, the House froze new commitments to a pet Administration scheme to subsidize the rents of poor families in privately owned, nonprofit housing projects. The White House had requested $40 million for fiscal 1968, saw that figure cut to $10 million by the Appropriations Committee and then to zero on the House floor. The Republican-led opposition came close to garroting the model-cities program as well. President Johnson had requested $662 million for his showcase exercise in creative federalism, which is aimed at encouraging cities to draw up their own plans for the rehabilitation of neighborhoods. The Appropriations Committee excised nearly two-thirds, leaving only $237 million. A motion to eliminate all funds except a token $12 million for planning was narrowly defeated, 213 to 193.

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