Who's Next Out the Door?

By DAVID ELLIS/

Bored, isolated and eyeing a run for office in her native North Carolina, Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole quit last week after 21 months on the job. Few tears were shed in the White House; some there were concerned that details of Cabinet meetings were finding their way back to husband Bob, the Senate minority leader.

Manuel Lujan Interior. The gaffe-prone, underworked Secretary is the odds-on favorite to quit next, particularly since top aide Lou Gallegos has resigned and returned to New Mexico. "Gallegos was literally running the whole department," says an insider.

Jack Kemp Housing and Urban Development. The quarterback turned Congressman turned Cabinet member behaves like a grumpy Supreme Court Justice, squawking about Bush's policy on China and Lithuania. Supply-sider Kemp wants to replace Trade Representative Carla Hills, but that's unlikely.

Lauro Cavazos Education. The laid-back Secretary isn't helping Bush earn the title of "Education President." He keeps Reagan-like hours, drives himself everywhere (even on out-of-state trips) and is seen as overly dependent on his wife for advice.

Richard Thornburgh Justice. Earlier this year the Attorney General was clearly on the way out. His botched investigation of Congressman William Gray and subsequent leaks by top aides earned Thornburgh many enemies. But now he is love-bombing the people he alienated and may survive.

Richard Darman Office of Management and Budget. The director's machinations during the budget talks hurt the President politically. Even some Republicans want Darman's ouster. But he will hang on for now, partly because he is indispensable to Bush on a daily basis, partly because he refuses to leave until something better turns up.

With reporting by DANIEL S. LEVY