[Mb-civic] Rove Gives Up Policy Post in Shake-Up - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Rove Gives Up Policy Post in Shake-Up
McClellan Resigns; New Chief of Staff Moves Quickly to Change West Wing

By Peter Baker and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, April 20, 2006; A01

President Bush's new chief of staff accelerated his election-year White 
House shake-up yesterday as Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove surrendered 
the policy management duties he assumed last year and press secretary 
Scott McClellan resigned as the public face of an administration under fire.

Rove, who steered Bush to two national election victories, will retain 
his title but focus on broad strategy and politics, while Joel D. Kaplan 
takes over as deputy White House chief of staff running the day-to-day 
policy process. To replace McClellan, Republican strategists said the 
White House is considering Fox News radio host Tony Snow and former Iraq 
occupation spokesman Dan Senor.

The moves effectively diminished or eliminated the roles of the two 
presidential aides most familiar to the general public, as newly 
installed White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten seeks to rescue 
the remainder of Bush's presidency. Coupled with other changes already 
announced and still in the works, Bolten hopes to demonstrate to the 
public and the Republican-led Congress that it will no longer be 
business as usual in a White House afflicted by political defeats, an 
overseas war and shrinking public support.

At the same time, the changes made public so far mainly have moved 
around figures who have been inside the Bush orbit for years, and White 
House officials made clear yesterday that no major shifts in policy are 
envisioned. With midterm congressional elections looming, strategists 
said the main goal was to make public gestures that would restore faith 
in Bush's ability to lead.

"The decision isn't one looking back at past performance or judgment," 
said White House counselor Dan Bartlett. "It was one looking forward. 
Josh is reenergizing and rebuilding his staff for the next thousand days."

The reshuffling, the most significant of Bush's second term, got 
underway when the president appointed Bolten to replace Andrew H. Card 
Jr. as his chief aide. Bolten, who took over Friday afternoon, has moved 
quickly to restructure the West Wing. On Monday, he invited aides 
already thinking of leaving to submit resignations. On Tuesday, he 
installed U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman to take over his job as 
director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Aides said no further moves will be announced this week but anticipate 
more next week, hoping that stretching them out over time will provide 
momentum. "People have been watching this TV series for a long time, and 
it helps to plug in some new characters from time to time," said Bush 
political adviser Mark McKinnon. "Gets folks to tune back in and take a 
fresh look."

Bolten is still eyeing the White House legislative affairs office in 
hopes of improving relations with congressional Republicans. Bolten has 
privately expressed criticism to colleagues about the operation of chief 
White House lobbyist Candida Wolf, and it remained uncertain whether she 
would stay. The White House has also been interested in finding a 
replacement for Treasury Secretary John W. Snow.

A senior White House official said a lot of staff members remain 
uncertain. Bolten's call for resignations, the official said, has a lot 
of aides who had not been contemplating departing now planning to spend 
this weekend considering it. Bolten has said he will keep Card's 
schedule and structure until the middle of next week, and then put his 
own in place.

The biggest changes so far came with Rove's shift and McClellan's 
departure. Rove has been the driving force of the Bush presidency from 
its inception, and last year he added the title of deputy chief of staff 
for policy to his portfolio. But some Republicans saw it as a poor fit 
as the operation's vision man occupied himself with the trains-on-time 
responsibilities of the new job.

Among people close to the White House and in Republican circles around 
Washington, there remained debate whether the move should be regarded as 
a demotion or reassignment. The answer will remain unknown until 
Bolten's operation has more time to prove itself. But there was 
agreement that the move was a negative verdict on the status quo.

"He's the best thinker in our party, and in the last year he's been 
doing all the staffing memos and making sure the paperwork is done on 
time and all that," said a senior administration official glad to see 
Rove return to his strong suit.

By turning over the daily policy management to Kaplan, Rove will free 
himself up to concentrate more on the midterm elections, which are 
crucial to Bush's fortunes, but he will remain an influential voice in 
broader policy discussions, as well. "That will leave Karl more time to 
focus on truly strategic policy at a critical time for the presidency," 
White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said.

Rove, 55, who has been Bush's most important adviser for many years, 
told associates he knew his shift might be seen as a demotion but agreed 
with Bolten that he was bogged down by esoteric subjects distracting him 
from strategy. A Republican close to Rove said the change was unrelated 
to the CIA leak case, in which Rove remains under investigation, but was 
meant to calm Republicans who fretted that the White House mishandled 
issues such as the Dubai port deal and Hurricane Katrina.

"They needed to have the optics that there's going to be a change -- a 
message-delivery change and a different approach to policy, particularly 
domestic policy," the Republican said. "That's all it is. There's not 
going to be any change in policy. It gets Washington talking about 
different things."

Democrats dismissed the move. "President Bush doesn't seem to understand 
that you can't just change the window dressing, you have to make changes 
in the Bush administration's policies, which have undermined America's 
security," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.

While Rove's shift was disclosed on paper, Bush walked McClellan onto 
the South Lawn yesterday morning before a trip to Alabama. "The White 
House is going through a period of transition," McClellan said. "Change 
can be helpful, and this is a good time and good position to help bring 
about change. I am ready to move on."

McClellan, 38, who has been at Bush's side since Texas and served as 
chief spokesman for the past two years and nine months, choked up 
momentarily. Turning to the president, he said, "I have given it my all, 
sir, and I've given you my all."

Bush responded with praise: "He handled his assignment with class, 
integrity. He really represents the best of his family, our state and 
our country. It's going to be hard to replace Scott."

In a moment of unfortunate symbolism for a troubled White House, Bush 
and McClellan then boarded Marine One to fly to Andrews Air Force Base 
-- only to have to disembark when the helicopter would not work. 
Instead, the president departed by motorcade.

McClellan had told colleagues as recently as last month that he intended 
to stay but told reporters aboard Air Force One yesterday that he began 
reconsidering when Card stepped down and informed Bush of his decision 
in an Oval Office meeting on Monday. "I didn't need much encouragement 
to make this decision," he said.

With endless patience, McClellan has absorbed months of battering at 
daily briefings over the president's second-term problems. Although he 
never expressed it publicly, McClellan's colleagues said he was 
frustrated that his credibility had been questioned after he relayed 
Rove's assertion in 2003 that Bush's top adviser had nothing to do with 
the leak of a CIA operative's identity -- a claim later discredited by 
grand jury testimony.

McClellan said he would stay for two or three weeks as the White House 
brings in a replacement. Republicans close to the White House identified 
three main candidates: Tony Snow, Senor and former Pentagon spokeswoman 
Victoria Clarke. Snow confirmed he is considering it, while Clarke said 
she would not.

Replacing Rove in the job of deputy chief of staff for policy will be 
Kaplan, who worked for Bolten in the first Bush campaign, in the White 
House and then at OMB as deputy director. Bolten considers Kaplan, 36, 
his right hand and was the only one with a speaking role at Kaplan's 
wedding this month, aside from Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court 
of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, who presided over the ceremony for his 
former clerk.

Kaplan, who rushed back to Washington from a Hawaii honeymoon Tuesday 
night, will be the third deputy along with Rove and Joseph W. Hagin, who 
plans to stay but will also give up policy duties, colleagues said. A 
Harvard Law graduate and former Marine, Kaplan also clerked for Supreme 
Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041900897.html?nav=hcmodule
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