The former head of the US Drugs Enforcement Agency, Mr Thomas A. Constantine, is on the short-list of candidates for the post of Oversight Commissioner to monitor the reform of the RUC.
But congressional sources have told The Irish Times that Mr Constantine is not favoured by the White House, which is "heavily lobbying against him". He resigned his post last year, citing frustration that the Clinton Administration's policy towards drug-smuggling from Mexico was not tough enough.
Asked about the report of White House opposition to Mr Constantine, an official said there was "no credence" for that.
The White House had seen some of the names being proposed, but not the full list.
The Government is also being consulted on the short-list of names for Oversight Commissioner, which the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, has said will be "an internationally-respected figure." Mr Mandelson will eventually select the name.
Some years ago Mr Constantine proposed to the Government that one of his drug enforcement officers be sent to Ireland to help the Garda in its fight against drug-smuggling from such places as Colombia, where the DEA has expertise. Mr Constantine was said to be puzzled when the offer was rejected by Dublin.
Mr Constantine, a former New York state trooper who now teaches at State University of New York in Albany and consults on law enforcement, served for five years as head of the DEA with its 9,000 agents. His outspoken criticism of what he saw as Mexico's ineffective policies to combat drug-trafficking into the US caused friction inside the Clinton Administration.
Meanwhile, two senior US members of Congress have written to the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, urging that the Patten Commission report on RUC reform be implemented "in full".
The chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Mr Ben Gilman, and the chairman of the International Operations and Human Rights Committee, Mr Chris Smith, express "grave concerns" in their letter about reports that the implementation of Patten "may be delayed or tabled and used as a bargaining chip with unionists who oppose reforms".
Mr Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein will travel to Washington later this week to brief the White House and Congress on the party's position on the proposal to restore the Northern Ireland institutions.
Mr Martin Mansergh, adviser to the Taoiseach on Northern Ireland, who is in Washington this week to give a lecture to congressional library officials, will also brief National Security Council officials at the White House on the latest situation.