Bush blow as Portman set to quit

Bush blow as Portman set to quit
By Andrew Ward and Krishna Guha in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: June 20 2007 04:36 | Last updated: June 20 2007 04:36

President George W. Bush is set to lose one of his most respected economic advisers after the announcement on Tuesday by Rob Portman that he is to step down as White House budget director.

The surprise resignation is a blow to Mr Bush as he struggles to push forward his policy agenda in the face of a hostile Congress and slumping public approval ratings.

It comes less than three weeks after Dan Bartlett, one of Mr Bush’s closest and longest-serving aides, announced he was stepping down as White House counsellor for family reasons. The departures have added to the sense of weakening power that plagues the administration 18 months before Mr Bush leaves office.

Mr Portman will be replaced by Jim Nussle, a former Republican congressman who helped guide Mr Bush’s first term tax cuts through the House of Representatives.

“There’s no finer man in public service than Rob Portman,” said Mr Bush. “Fortunately, we’ve found a good man to succeed him.”

The shake-up came as the White House prepares for confrontation with Congress over next year’s budget. Mr Bush on Tuesday his threat to veto bills containing “excessive levels of spending”.

Mr Nussle, known for his combative political style, gained experience of the budget process as chairman of the House budget committee from 2001-06.

“As a member of Congress, Jim was a strong advocate for fiscal discipline and a champion of tax cuts,” said Mr Bush. “Jim’s name and knowledge command respect on Capitol Hill.”

Mr Nussle left Congress last year after a failed bid to become governor of his native Iowa. He has since served as an adviser to the presidential campaign of Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York.

Mr Portman, who is viewed by many as a potential future Republican presidential candidate, said he was leaving the White House to spend more time with his family after 14 years of commuting between Washington and his home in Ohio.

People familiar with his thinking said Mr Portman wanted to build up home state support with a view to running for office in Ohio in 2010. “He wants to run for governor or the Senate – that is what this is about,” a senior official said. “He needs to set up a base.”

A former administration official said his decision was probably influenced at least in part by the difficulty of getting anything substantial done in the final years of the Bush administration.

A second administration official acknowledged that Mr Portman was “extremely disappointed” by what he views as the Democrats’ failure to engage in a serious debate on entitlement reform. But the official insisted this was not a big factor in his decision to quit.

Budget experts said Mr Portman was a fiscal hawk who persuaded Mr Bush to adopt the target of a balanced budget in 2012, in the face of scepticism from many senior White House officials.

“I think he did the best he could in the situation he was in,” said Chris Edwards, director of tax policy at the Cato Institute.