No Exit From Washington For Clintonites

For months, a weary Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin has been wistfully eyeing the exits, according to friends. But he can't find the right time to bolt. The worsening global financial crisis already has forced Rubin to extend his stay. Now, the President's sex scandal makes it impossible to leave without looking as if he's abandoning a sinking ship--a move sure to rattle the markets. "Bob Rubin is trapped," says David J. Rothkopf, a former top Commerce Dept. official. "He'd love to get out, but his departure now would be worse than Monica Lewinsky discovering another dress in her closet."

The Treasury chief isn't the only top Administration official strapped to a deck chair on the listing uss Clinton. White House officials say other Cabinet officers and Presidential advisers are pondering an exodus after the Nov. 3 election. Insiders say they include Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol M. Browner and possibly Health & Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala, who rebuked Clinton for his moral lapses. But with impeachment talk rife in Congress, "people will be more likely to stay," says a Clintonite.