Washington ? Lawmakers balked Thursday at moving the Coast Guard and the nation’s emergency disaster agency into a new Homeland Security Department despite pleas from senior Cabinet officials to stick to President Bush’s blueprint.

Although the House committee actions were preliminary and could change, the decisions indicated Congress’ intent to recast Bush’s plan for consolidating two dozen agencies and 170,000 government workers into a new Cabinet department.

“If we do something incorrectly, we’ll be haunted by this legislation,” said Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

House panels rebuffed Bush’s request to move the Coast Guard to the new department from the Transportation Department and decided to retain the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a separate entity.

They also rejected Bush’s request for broad authority to transfer money within the new agency’s budget without congressional approval; kept the bulk of animal and plant health inspection programs in the Agriculture Department; and made clear that the Health and Human Services Department would maintain primary responsibility for health research.

A day earlier, House committees decided against Bush’s plan to move the entire Immigration and Naturalization Service into the new agency and voted to shift the Secret Service from the Treasury Department to the Justice Department instead of to Homeland Security, again contrary to White House wishes.

The actions came despite an unusual joint appearance by Secretary of State Colin Powell, Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft. All four appeared before a select House committee that will assemble legislation creating the department out of the recommendations submitted by the other panels.

The administration officials said the Bush plan provided the proper balance in safeguarding Americans from terrorism at home by improving intelligence sharing and bringing dozens of far-flung agencies under one roof with one mission. They urged lawmakers not to let turf battles and fear of change stand in the way.

“We cannot respond to the terrorist threats simply by pledging more cooperation or making marginal changes,” O’Neill said. “We must be willing to make a dramatic transformation in light of the dramatic threats we face.”

Although the House committee actions would make some serious dents in Bush’s plan, they are only recommendations and far from the final word on the new department. House leaders have said the committee work does not have to be followed to the letter when a bill is readied for floor action later this month; the Senate will also have its say.