Transition officials said those bound by the pledge would range from cabinet officers to the general counsel and deputy assistant secretaries within each department.

"In drafting these pledges, we of course have sought to balance the need for reform with the desire to attract the very best people into government," Mr. Christopher said at a news conference today. "We believe that these new changes properly reconcile these goals."

Mr. Christopher also said Mr. Clinton would like to see Congress strengthen its own ethics laws, as well as pass campaign finance reform legislation. But he said Mr. Clinton would not necessarily expend political capital to lobby for such legislative changes immediately.

And he said the new ethics rules, drawn up by a team of lawyers and completed only late Tuesday night, would not discourage the kinds of candidates Mr. Clinton hopes to attract.

"It's possible to imagine that people who are in Washington and had intended to go in government for a short time and then come back out and practice will be discouraged by that, or appear in Washington as lobbyists," Mr. Christopher said. "That's exactly the kind of vice we're trying to get at, and if some of those people are excluded, I would think that really is the price of these rules, and we think it's a fair price to pay.'

Mr. Christopher said that no one who is being interviewed for top cabinet jobs has indicated that they would refuse to sign the pledge.

White House officials whose responsibilities cover a broad number of areas would be excluded from the ban. When they left Government employment, Mr. Christopher said, they would be expected to ask for and receive an opinion on what agencies they could or could not work with or for.