New chief of staff rattles West Wing: Rove's duties shift, McClellan resigns

WASHINGTON — President Bush's new chief of staff accelerated his White House shake-up Wednesday 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 Kaplan takes over as deputy White House chief of staff running the day-to-day policy process.

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 Bolten seeks to rescue the remainder of Bush's presidency.

Coupled with other changes already announced and now 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 for public gestures that would restore faith in Bush's ability to lead.

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.

The reshuffling, the most significant of Bush's second term, got under way when the president appointed Bolten to replace Andrew Card 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 previous job as director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Further changes are expected next week.

Rove has been the driving force of the Bush presidency from the start, and last year he added the title of deputy chief of staff for policy.

Among people close to the White House and in Republican circles, there remained debate over whether the move was a demotion or reassignment. The answer will remain unknown — perhaps even to Rove himself — 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," a senior administration official said of Rove.

By turning over the daily policy management to Kaplan, Rove will free himself up to concentrate more on the midterm elections.

Rove, 55, who has been Bush's most important adviser for many years, told people he knew his shift might be seen as a demotion but agreed with Bolten that the policy job distracted 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.

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."

McClellan had told colleagues as recently as last month that he intended to stay, but he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday 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 will stay until a successor is named. Possibilities mentioned include Tony Snow, host of a program on Fox News Radio; Dan Senor, former coalition spokesman in Iraq; Trent Duffy, former White House deputy press secretary, and former Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols, a Seattle native and former aide to Sen. Slade Gorton and Rep. Jennifer Dunn.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.