President May Launch Plan For Federal Downsizing

By Wolf Blitzer/CNN

WASHINGTON (July 23) -- President Bill Clinton's top political advisers are seriously debating whether he should release an election year plan to cut the federal government, including possible elimination of various departments and agencies, CNN has learned.

"The era of big government is over," Clinton said in his State of Union address last January, to applause from his allies and ridicule from critics.

Officials tell CNN that Vice President Al Gore's so-called "Reinventing Government" team was asked in recent weeks to take another close look at the pros and cons of eliminating and consolidating government services. No final decisions have been made, and several vocal opponents inside the White House predict it won't get off the ground, given its political sensitivity.

Cutting the size of government is a politically popular idea that Republicans have long championed, with Bob Dole often having called for the elimination of departments like Education, Energy, Commerce and Transportation.

"This is not a personal battle between me and Bill Clinton," Dole said at a campaign stop in March. "It is a battle for the hearts and minds of the people in America: which way do you want to go?"

The president has often been accused of co-opting popular Republican ideas to attract new voters. Says political analyst Charles Cook: "It could be that a little bit of an uproar might not be bad for President Clinton; I mean, arguably, Sister Souljah was an incident that enabled him to sort of incur the wrath of a group that helped position him back toward the center during the summer of 1992, and theoretically that could happen here as well."

The last time the administration considered the matter, it came close to eliminating the Energy Department, transferring most of its nuclear- related functions to the Pentagon. But in the end, Clinton concluded it wouldn't save much money.

Citing the high political sensitivity of the debate, aides are refusing to even speculate about which departments and agencies may be on the chopping block. Since taking office, the president's government restructuring has eliminated some 240,000 federal jobs, bringing the federal work force to its lowest level in 30 years.

Those aides urging Clinton to go further believe it will help guarantee that he doesn't lose his own job.

This story originally appeared on CNN's "Inside Politics."

President May Launch Plan For Federal Downsizing

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