Shuffle at Budget

Though originally appointed by President Kennedy, Budget Director Kermit Gordon came into his own in Washington under Lyndon Johnson. Reason: Gordon succeeded in keeping two consecutive budgets below the magic $100 billion mark, a feat that won him the ardent affection of figure-conscious Johnson.

Despite his high standing with the boss, Gordon decided several months ago that he wanted out. Last winter he sighed to a friend: "How many budgets can you do?" And last week the White House announced that Gordon, 48, would step down June 1 to become vice president of the Brookings Institution, a research organization.

Named to succeed Gordon was Charles L. Schultze, 40, until last February an assistant director of the Bureau of the Budget. The son of a Washington, D.C., accountant, Schultze holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Maryland, for seven years was a staff assistant to the Council of Economic Advisers, in 1962 became one of Gordon's top assistants. In that capacity, Schultze was deeply involved in estimating annual personal income, corporate profits, and the G.N.P. -- an exacting task, the results of which determine estimates of Government revenues and the entire program of federal expenditures.

Two months ago, Schultze left the Government to accept an economics teaching job at the University of Mary land. At that time, President Johnson made the unusual gesture toward an official of such modest rank of writing a letter hailing Schultze as "brilliant." And when Gordon insisted on leaving, the President remembered Schultze --and called him back to Washington.

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