February 21, 1991

Saying he was committed to "the power of the marketplace," President Bush presented an energy policy today that he asserted would save energy, increase domestic production of fuels and improve the environment without new taxes or harsh Government edicts. Because the policy includes only a very limited effort to improve gasoline mileage -- the factor in the energy balance most experts believe easiest to influence -- Mr. Bush appeared to set the stage today for a major battle with Congress.

The Supreme Court ruled today that the Government could be sued over the way it administered the 1986 immigration law. Lower courts had differed as to whether such suits could be brought. The 7-to-2 decision today opens the door to broad legal challenges in Federal court on behalf of large numbers of aliens, perhaps hundreds of thousands, who are still seeking legal status under the two amnesty programs established by the 1986 law.

Paul Solomon, whose former lover is standing trial for the murder of Mr. Solomon's wife, Betty Jeanne, erupted into a rage today as the lawyer for the defense ended five days of relentless cross-examination by suggesting that the witness was involved in the killing. The 43-year-old teacher, who wept two weeks ago as he described finding his wife dead on the floor of their darkened home in Greenburgh, had been challenged and shouted down by David Lewis, who represents the defendant, Carolyn Warmus.

More than a year after he took office, Mayor David N. Dinkins's City Hall staff is plagued by internal disarray so persistent and open that other government officials, community groups and even some mayoral aides complain that important policy goals have suffered. Mr. Dinkins has acknowledged that his administration has problems, saying that the biggest is a general failure to communicate effectively with New Yorkers. But some of his own aides and outside critics say the troubles have deeper dimensions.

In an Administration where secrecy and loyalty are prime virtues, Brent Scowcroft, President Bush's national security adviser, and Robert M. Gates, his deputy, are the most virtuous. With war in the Persian Gulf, the two men have leaped to prominence, filling the role that Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d filled in peacetime. The new arrangement has fueled the long-smoldering rivalry between the White House staff and the State Department, where envious officials deride the Scowcroft-Gates team as the Siamese twins of the White House. Washington at Work, page A14.