41.   The cut in the number of political appointees at Commerce would bring the figure more in line with the Treasury Department and other large Cabinet departments.

42.   The Clinton administration is operating with so many top-drawer vacancies that mid-level policy decisions are being deferred and a sense of political paralysis infects many Cabinet departments.

43.   The current budgets of nine Cabinet departments and scores of other agencies are still in dispute.

44.   The federal government uses inspector generals to handle internal investigations of individual Cabinet departments, usually when issues of fraud or corruption are raised.

45.   The group is made up of representatives of the Defense Department, State Department, Department of Health and Human Services and other Cabinet departments.

46.   The need for such a Cabinet department is clear.

47.   The new cabinet department would focus on border security, emergency preparedness, protection against bioterrorism, information analysis and infrastructure protection.

48.   The president also ordered similar offices set up in five Cabinet departments.

49.   The order of Cabinet departments was determined by their length of existence.

50.   The plan was based on the recommendations of a half-dozen Cabinet departments.