主题：【原创】三声叹息 -- 写在小布什再次当选 -- 萨苏

Card Remains Bush's Chief, W.House Changes to Come

Mon Nov 8, 2004 01:24 PM ET

By Adam Entous

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At the urging of President Bush, White House chief of staff Andrew Card will remain in the job and is expected to play a key role in shaping Bush's Cabinet for a second term, the White House said on Monday.

Bush has told aides he wants a "smooth" transition and officials said that they expected any major personnel changes would be made gradually, ensuring a measure of stability as Bush heads into second and final term.

While Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, two leading administration faces in the Iraq war, had been widely expected to leave in Bush's second term, officials said they might stay in their posts at least temporarily.

The death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, lying critically ill in a French military hospital, could offer Powell the rare opportunity to jump-start peace talks with Israel and bolster his image after the Iraq war, one official said.

In another key post, Justice Department sources have said privately for weeks that Attorney General John Ashcroft is not likely to continue in a second term. But officials say he may be having second thoughts after Tuesday's election victory.

Bush spent the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat considering possible Cabinet changes with Card and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Vice President Dick Cheney also took part in the discussions.

CHANGES 'IN DUE COURSE'

Bush's first major decision was to ask Card to remain chief of staff. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said "Andy Card was honored to accept" the offer.

There had been speculation that Card would leave the post after Bush's re-election victory. White House budget chief Josh Bolten and Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Bush's best friend, were seen as possible successors.

McClellan said other personnel "announcements will be made in due course." Officials overseeing the process have been "tasked with making sure that we do this in a way that is smooth as we enter a second term," McClellan added.

"It's been a natural time for when you look at ways to build your team for the second term and that's what we're in the process of doing," McClellan said.

Over the weekend, officials announced that Robert Blackwill, the administration's lead official on Iraq policy, would leave, taking him out of the running as a possible successor to Rice.

That could clear the way for Rice's low-key deputy, Stephen Hadley, to take over as national security adviser if Rice decides to move to Defense or State, or return to California.

In addition to existing Cabinet positions, officials said the White House is looking at possible candidates for a new role as national intelligence director. Congress has yet to approve the new intelligence position, proposed by the commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

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