Mr. Joshua Bolten, the new chief of staff for U.S. President George W. Bush, is cleaning house in the White House. Mr. Bolten has two objectives: to restore the luster to the Bush presidency as it enters its final two years and help Republican candidates in the 2006 midterm elections. Yet, changes in the administration do not occur in a vacuum, and one move in particular -- the shift of U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) -- will have international repercussions. Mr. Bolten, and Mr. Bush, may have just ended prospects for a successful conclusion to the Doha Round of global trade talks.
Mr. Bush has been battered by the Iraq war, the ongoing investigation into who leaked the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame and why, and scandals in Washington. His public-approval ratings are plummeting and there is fear that he has become a liability for Republican candidates in the congressional elections that will be held in November. In this environment, there have been calls for the president to embrace change in his administration to regain momentum and initiative.
A first step was taken earlier this month with the resignation -- and indeed, all such changes are "resignations" -- of White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and his replacement by Mr. Bolten, former head of the OMB. He then moved to put his stamp on the administration. He has forced political consigliere Mr. Karl Rove to shed his policy role and engineered the "resignation" of Press Spokesperson Scott McClellan. More changes are on the way.