Bureaucracy

By DOUGLAS WALLER/WASHINGTON

Robert Rubin is happy. He's leaving the Treasury and Washington's rat race. Rubin's deputy, LARRY SUMMERS, is happy. He has been nominated to take over the Treasury Department. And STUART EIZENSTAT is happy. He's been promoted from his job as Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs to be Summers' deputy. The only one unhappy is Secretary of State MADELEINE ALBRIGHT. She lured the Washington-savvy Eizenstat from the Commerce Department two years ago to grab back some control of international economic policy, which the State Department had ceded to other agencies. Since then, State and Treasury have fought a turf war behind the scenes over control of Washington's response to the Asian financial crisis and Russia's economic bailout. Summers will now have Eizenstat under his wing, instead of his being a Foggy Bottom competitor. The player trade "wasn't Madeleine's first choice," said a senior White House aide. She's now looking for a heavyweight to fill Eizenstat's post so no more turf slides away.

--By Douglas Waller/Washington