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Whitehouse shakeup rove role reduced { March 2006 }

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   http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-resign20apr20,0,662626.story?coll=la-home-headlines

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-resign20apr20,0,662626.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Rove's Role Reduced, McClellan Resigns in White House Shakeup
By Tom Hamburger, Richard Simon, and Ronald Brownstein
Times Staff Writers

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Wednesday reduced the official role that Karl Rove, his chief political strategist, will play in setting policy, and he accepted the resignation of spokesman Scott McClellan, in the latest moves aimed at reinvigorating his presidency and recovering from low public approval ratings.

The changes were part of an aggressive effort by Bush's new chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, to energize an administration that has been beset by a lack of progress on a number of second-term initiatives and has left Republicans nervous about losing control of Congress.

Rove will no longer have direct operational responsibility over White House policy decision-making, a position he gained after the 2004 election. But he will remain in charge of political strategy, a role that will gain increased importance with the approach of the fall congressional elections.

A former White House official who talked recently with Bolten said the moves resulted from Bolten's view that he needed to address three serious problems facing Bush: Deteriorating press coverage, souring relations with Congress and increasingly uncomfortable interactions between the White House and GOP political candidates nationwide. The former official asked not to be identified because of concern the White House might not appreciate his comments during a difficult time.

Troubles are circling the White House just seven months before midterm elections in which Democrats hope to make gains by nationalizing the campaigns, turning them into a referendum on the president's performance.

Congressional Republicans have been pressing the White House for changes, and several welcomed Wednesday's announcement while anticipating more staff shifts soon. Those could include naming a new Treasury secretary to replace John Snow, who has drawn fire as the deficit has mounted.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was consulted about the staff changes before they were announced, a congressional source said. Frist's chief of staff, Eric Ueland, called the shifts "an unfortunate but sometimes necessary Washington ritual [that] will reinvigorate both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to press ahead with a common-sense conservative agenda."

McClellan's departure in the next two weeks or so will present a visible change at the White House, though one that may have few implications for the administration's policy-setting. McClellan had been chief spokesman since he replaced Ari Fleischer in 2003, shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

McClellan had a more affable demeanor than the pugnacious Fleischer, but his credibility suffered in 2004 when he told reporters it was "totally ridiculous" to suggest that Rove was involved in the leak of the identity of a covert CIA officer. It turned out that despite McClellan's sweeping denial, both Rove and Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, had discussed the covert officer with reporters.

Rove has been the master strategist for Bush's four consecutive victories in his races for governor of Texas and the presidency. He is known by the president variously as "the architect," for his role in plotting Bush's stunning electoral success, "boy wonder" for his political acumen, and "turd blossom," a teasing reference to the flower that blooms from Texas cow pies and to Rove's ability to turn messy situations into political triumphs.

Officially, Wednesday's announcement reduces the influence of the man many historians believe to be of the most powerful White House aides in history and who, until this week, had only seen his influence expand since arriving in Washington with Bush, whom he had nurtured and tutored in politics.

Just after receiving accolades for his role in plotting the president's reelection in 2004, Rove was promoted to deputy chief of staff for policy. That assignment came on top of his titles of senior adviser and chief political consultant to the president.

The new policy title gave Rove responsibility for coordinating White House work related to national security, domestic and economic policy, and homeland security.

Rove's policy portfolio will now be turned over to Joel Kaplan, the White House's deputy budget director, who worked closely with Bolten in the 2000 campaign and in the White House budget office. The two have a relationship that some compare to the "mind meld" that unite Bush and Rove.

Democrats expressed some pleasure that Rove's role was being cut back, suggesting it was because of his inappropriate mixing of politics and policy and the ongoing scrutiny he faces from the special prosecutor investigating the leak of the identity of former CIA operative Valerie Plame. Some of the policy areas for which Rove had responsibility — notably Bush's effort to overhaul the Social Security program — were considered political flops.

But a Republican strategist familiar with White House thinking said the shift in Rove's job does not represent a diminution of the strategist's standing.

The strategist said the "principal goal" of Wednesday's personnel change was to free Rove from the responsibility of the routine details of the policy development process, allowing him to concentrate on long and short-term strategy.

"This allows our best and smartest thinker in the party to focus on strategic planning and the things he does best," the strategist said. "He plays an integral role in everything here This frees him from the minutiae of the policy job — dealing with the briefing papers, making sure they are in on time. That's a very good thing."

People familiar with White House operations said Rove would still be the key voice in determining the president's travel schedule and message, and they predicted that Rove would personally help raise funds for congressional candidates.

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, welcomed the change, saying it would allow Rove to focus on helping the GOP hold onto control of Congress. "06 is going to be a tough year for our party This could free him up to do what he's best at, and that's politics," he said.

A congressional Republican leadership aide, speaking on condition that he not be named, said, "I don't know how much time he was devoting to domestic policy, but it wasn't working His forte is politics, and that's what he should be focused on" heading into the midterm elections.

Bush's top domestic initiative from last year — overhauling the Social Security system to include individual stock and bond accounts — went nowhere in Congress. This year, Bush has faced resistance, even from fellow Republicans, to his efforts to make further cuts in spending to Medicaid, Medicare and other politically popular programs.

Also troubled are Bush's legislative goals of extending some of his cherished tax cuts, creating a guest-worker program as part of an overhaul of immigration law, and opening a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.

Although Rove is now officially out of the policy arena, most observers said it would do little to change his influence over a White House that melded policy and politics seamlessly. "If Karl needs to talk to the president and get a decision made, he'll do that, regardless of the title he has," said Republican anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, a longtime friend of Rove.

The departure of McClellan gives the White House a new public face, one not associated with its troubled defense of leaks and other controversies.

GOP pollster Frank Luntz called the White House shakeup "clearly a step in the right direction," but added: "The only question you have to ask is whether it's too late or not to affect 2006" elections. Luntz has warned that Republicans are in danger of losing control of the House.

Wednesday's announcements followed several the day before, when U.S. trade representative Rob Portman was named to replace Bolten as budget director and Susan Schwab, Portman's deputy, was named to replace her former boss as the nation's chief trade negotiator.

Bolten moved into his new job as chief of staff last week after serving as director of the Office of Management and Budget, where Kaplan was his deputy.

The promotion of Kaplan apparently leaves Bush with three deputy chiefs of staff: Rove, Kaplan and Joe Hagin, who oversees administrative matters, intelligence and other national security issues.

Appearing with Bush on the South Lawn Wednesday morning in front of reporters, McClellan told Bush: "I have given it my all, sir, and I have given you my all, sir, and I will continue to do so as we transition to a new press secretary."

Bush said McClellan handled "a challenging assignment" with "class, integrity" and that it is "going to be hard to replace Scott." He predicted that he and McClellan would some day be in "rocking in chairs in Texas and talking about the good old days."

McClellan said that he would remain on the job until a successor is named. Among those under consideration are Tony Snow, a conservative television pundit and former White House speechwriter, former Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke and Dan Senor, who served in the White House and as a spokesman for the armed forces in Iraq.

Staff writer Richard B. Schmitt and researcher Robin Cochran contributed to this report.



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