From Washington Straight

For the first time in ten years, the White House has crushed effective congressional resistance to the inequities and inefficiencies of the foreign aid program. LBJ triumphed last week in a head-to-head battle with Chairman Otto Passman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Aid.

For Passman, a flamboyant, silk-suited country boy from the Louisiana delta, it was a bitter defeat. He was consistently outvoted in his own subcommittee, despite heavy Republican support, by a bloc of Administration Democrats. The mutiny against the chairman was led by Rep. Vaughan Gary (D., Va.). Gary is a curious figure. The late Clarence Cannon, long-time patriarch of the full Appropriations Committee, had steadfastly refused to give Gary an important subcommittee assignment; Cannon was reputedly skeptical of Gary’s “temperament.” It is widely believed, however, that Passman interceded with Cannon to secure Gary’s appointment to the foreign aid subcommittee. (Passman had done important favors for Gary in several tough re-election campaigns.) In time, Gary rose to become ranking majority member of the subcommittee. It was from this position, after a visit to the White House last week, that Gary launched his rebellion against the chairman.

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For the first time in ten years, the White House has crushed effective congressional resistance to the inequities and inefficiencies of the foreign aid program. LBJ triumphed last week in a head-to-head battle with Chairman Otto Passman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Aid.

For Passman, a flamboyant, silk-suited country boy from the Louisiana delta, it was a bitter defeat. He was consistently outvoted in his own subcommittee, despite heavy Republican support, by a bloc of Administration Democrats. The mutiny against the chairman was led by Rep. Vaughan Gary (D., Va.). Gary is a curious figure. The late Clarence Cannon, long-time patriarch of the full Appropriations Committee, had steadfastly refused to give Gary an important subcommittee assignment; Cannon was reputedly skeptical of Gary’s “temperament.” It is widely believed, however, that Passman interceded with Cannon to secure Gary’s appointment to the foreign aid subcommittee. (Passman had done important favors for Gary in several tough re-election campaigns.) In time, Gary rose to become ranking majority member of the subcommittee. It was from this position, after a visit to the White House last week, that Gary launched his rebellion against the chairman.