Scott McCocksucker Quits As White House Press Secretary

Scott McClellan Quits as White House Press Secretary

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(Gold9472: I hope you are chastized for the rest of your life for the lies and murder you helped to cover up.)

By The Associated Press and E&P Staff
Published: April 19, 2006 10:15 AM ET

NEW YORK White House press secretary Scott McClellan said today he is resigning, continuing a shakeup in President Bush's administration that has already yielded a new chief of staff and could lead to a change in the Cabinet.

Appearing with Bush on the White House South Lawn just before the president boarded a helicopter at the start a trip to Alabama, McClellan, who has parried especially fiercefully with reporters on Iraq and on intelligence issues, 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 had "a challenging assignment."

"I thought he handled his assignment with class, integrity," the president said. "It's going to be hard to replace Scott, but nevertheless he made the decision and I accepted it. One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking in chairs in Texas and talking about the good old days."

Also, in an ongoing shakeup of the president's staff, longtime confidant and adviser Karl Rove is giving up oversight of policy development to focus more on politics with the approach of the fall midterm elections, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

Just over a year ago, Rove was promoted to deputy chief of staff in charge of most White House policy coordination. That new portfolio came on top of his title as senior adviser and role of chief policy aide to Bush.

But now, the job of deputy chief of staff for policy is being given to Joel Kaplan, now the White House's deputy budget director, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the president had not yet made the announcement.

The move signals a possibly broad effort to rearrange and reinvigorate Bush's staff by new chief of staff Joshua Bolten. Bolten moved into his position last week; Kaplan was his No. 2 person at the Office of Management and Budget.

At least for the time being, the promotion of Kaplan would leave Bush with three deputy chiefs of staff: Rove, Kaplan and Joe Hagin, who oversees administrative matters, intelligence and other national security issues.

McClellan's statement:

"Good morning, everybody. I am here to announce that i will be resigning as White House Press Secretary. Mr. President, it has been an extrordinary honor and privilege to serve you for more than seven years now. The last two years and nine months as your press secretary. The White House is going through a period of transition. Change can be helpful. And this is a good time and good position to help bring about change.

"I am ready to move on. I have been in this position a long time and my wife and I are excited about beginning the next chapter in our life together. You have accomplished a lot over the last several years with this team. And I have been honored and grateful to be a small part of a terrific and talented team of really good people. Our relationship began back in Texas and I look forward to continuing it. Particularly when we are both back in Texas."

Analysis: Rove still at heart of Bush team after shake-up

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Tom Baldwin, Washington Correspondent of The Times, explains the latest moves in the White House shake-up and why they are so badly needed


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"Karl Rove has not been sidelined or demoted. He quite clearly remains absolutely at the heart of the Bush Administration as the most trusted and influential adviser to the President.

"What appears to have happened is that he has returned to the role he has traditionally played with Mr Bush, rather than the aggrandized role he was given after the 2004 election. Essentially, he will be less involved in overseeing policy and more involved in what he is really good at, which is directing the general political strategy of the administration.

"He may now be taking a slightly lower profile. This may be politically convenient, as Mr Rove is potentially in some trouble after he was named as a subject of the Fitzgerald investigation (a special prosecutor who is investigating the alleged leak of a CIA agent's name by the White House).

"The change in Mr Rove's role is also designed to fit in with the larger shake-up going on at the White House. It is part of the fine-tuning involved in the five-year service of the Administration, where some parts - like Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary - are being discarded, and others are being polished up.

"Mr McClellan's departure is not unexpected. He has become a living symbol of the problems that this administration has been having in communicating its message. He has been an extraordinarily ham-fisted, wooden, apologetic, disaster-area of a spokesman. He sits there, just taking body blow after body blow, sweating and getting pink in the face.

"There will be further changes. Most people think that John Snow, the Treasury Secretary, will be among those to go.

"It is all about trying to reinvigorate an Administration which is looking tired, if not actually dead. They have two and a half years to go, but they look exhausted, politically and physically. They have lost their touch and their political antennae.

"They can't see trouble coming, and it hits them smack in the face. They can't get up off the floor. They used to just keep winning, but now they have been on a very long losing streak, from Hurricane Katrina to the Dubai ports deal, via corruption among Republicans in Congress and the "Scooter" Libby affair. It is looking very, very shaky.

"This is what politicians do when they are having a bad time - they reshuffle their team."