White House Rumor-Mongering: Scott McClellan’s Possible Replacement

Lately we’ve been doing a lot of speculating around here about future personnel changes within the Bush Administration. And the rumor mill keeps on churning.

We recently suggested that White House press secretary Scott McClellan would be gone by the summer. But we didn’t have info about a possible replacement, other than to say that it probably wouldn’t be communications director Nicolle Wallace. Wallace doesn’t enjoy talking on camera, and she may be moving to New York with her husband in the near future.

Now a little bird — not the same tipster who said Scotty would be leaving soon, but a different source — tells us:

The President has named Dana M. Perino (see photo) as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary. Ms. Perino recently served as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary at the White House. This makes her heir apparent to Scott McClellan, who is expected to depart this summer.

Interesting — and logical. Dana Perino is easy on the eyes, and therefore television-ready. And if David Gregory starts giving her a hard time, he may come off looking like a bully, unless Perino can give as good as she gets (which, considering her resemblance to Heather Locklear, is certainly possible).

If you have anything to add to this, please feel free to drop us a line.

Personnel Announcement [White House]

Update: We wrote this post before Josh Bolten took over as White House chief of staff. Rumor has it that he does not favor Perino for the job.

Earlier: White House Rumor-Mongering: Waiting for the Other Shoe(s) To Drop
John Snow: The Next To Go?

READ MORE: White House, bush, dana perino, george w. bush, nicolle wallace, resignations, scott mcclellan, top, unverified rumors

White House Rumor-Mongering: Waiting for the Other Shoe(s) To Drop

Yesterday, after Andrew Card’s resignation was announced, we speculated that Treasury Secretary John W. Snow might be the next Administration official to step down. A reader offered this support for the gossip: “I live across the street from Sec’y Snow, and I never see him or his security detail anymore. The guy’s fuckin’ done.”

But Snow’s not the only one who may be on his way out. A Wonkette operative offers up two other names: White House counselor Dan Bartlett, and everyone’s favorite press secretary, Scott McClellan. In terms of timing, look for them to be gone “by the summer.” No word yet on possible replacements for Bartlett or McClellan; “Nicolle Wallace is likely to stay as communications director.”

As for incoming chief of staff Josh Bolten, our source opines that he has his work cut out for him: “What Bolten will find — and he probably already knows — is that the WH is full of supremely talented people who are awful managers of other people.”

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again (because it can’t be said enough): Good luck, Yosh!

Earlier: John Snow: The Next To Go?
Yosh Up, Card Down: Meet the New Chief of Staff

READ MORE: Andy Card, White House, andrew card, bush, dan bartlett, george w. bush, gossip, john snow, nicolle wallace, resignations, scott mcclellan, top, unverified rumors

Daily Briefing: Closer Than Ever

• After successfully shifting its rhetorical strategy on Iraq, the Bush administration rethinks its plans for the second term; Dan Bartlett and Nicolle Wallace pressed for Bush to admit mistakes. Former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.): “I don’t think they realized that Iraq is the totality of their legacy until fairly recently. There is not much of a market for other issues.” Grover Norquist: “The lesson from this year is you cannot do anything dramatic unless you have 60 votes.” [WP]
• Jack Abramoff, “an ingenious dealmaker who hatched interlocking schemes that exploited the machinery of government and trampled the norms of doing business in Washington,” is at the center of “what could become the biggest congressional corruption scandal in generations.” Former Rep. Mickey Edwards (R-Okla.): “This is at a scale that is really shocking. There is a certain kind of arrogance that in the past you might not have had. They were so supremely confident that there didn’t seem to be any kind of moral compass here.” [WP]
• Department of Homeland Security is crippled by mismanagement and financial problems, audit finds. Inspector general’s report: “The circumstances created by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita provide an unprecedented opportunity for fraud, waste and abuse.” [WP]
• Officials deny that secret radiation detection specifically targeted Muslims. [WP]
• Iraqi election results are called “credible and good” by top official at the United Nations. [WP, NYT]
• Bush’s “authority to conduct the war on terrorism as he sees fit” is at the core of the debate over eavesdropping and the Patriot Act. [USAT]
• The relationship of Bush and Cheney is “closer than it has ever been,” says senior administration official. [WT]

• Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) tries to restore her state and her image: “I’m not a guy, I can’t be Rudy, whatever that is… Sometimes people think you are falling down when you are the only one standing.” [NYT]
• Bush rearranges line of succession at the Pentagon. [WT]
• William Rehnquist “helped transform a bench focused on the rights of the poor and disenfranchised into one that sought to leave society’s problems to elected legislators.” [USAT]

READ MORE: Pentagon, dan bartlett, dhs, dick cheney, eavesdropping, george w. bush, grover norquist, iraq, jack abramoff, kathleen babineaux blanco, katrina, nicolle wallace, patriot act, scandal, united nations, war on terror, william rehnquist

Decoding the Note

Today’ Note raises some interesting questions, among them:

Q: Is it really true that “the last Tuesday of every month is reserved for The Note’s ‘Best of …’ feature”?
A: No.

Q: Then why go through the trouble of using such a hackneyed format?
A: Because it’s easier than actually analyzing the news.

More secrets revealed after the jump.

Q: So is the WSJ’s piece on Iraq really the “Best Story Teeing up Wednesday’s Para-Mega Bush Speech on Iraq: The Wall Street Journal’s Dreazen, Jaffe, and McKinnon, whose must-read story also prominently raises the Notion of civil war in Iraq as potentially foreshadowed by sectarian militias”?
A: No, but if they put that story at the top, readers might think that they actually care — and know — about foreign policy.

Q: So now you’ll tell me that they don’t actually believe that the WSJ editorials today are the “Best Reasons to Read America’s Finest Op-ed Page,” and that “Joe Lieberman’s Nicolle-Wallace-couldn’t-write-it-better-herself op-ed on staying the course in Iraq” could have been written better by Nicolle Wallace.
A: Maybe. Ask yourself: When was the last time The Note said something even remotely critical about Nicolle Wallace? Then ask yourself: Why is that?

Q: Hey, I ask the questions around here. And I have one more: Who the fuck is Walter, Ganzi, Jr. and why should I care that “In addition to being the CEO and co-owner The Palm Restaurants and Palm Management Corporation and the former national finance co-chairman for the 1988 George H.W. Bush for President campaign, Mr. Ganzi… has taken over as its national finance chairman” for George Pataki?
A: The Note does original reporting! The Note does original reporting! The Note does original reporting!

Best in Note [ABC]

READ MORE: decoding the note, iraq, nicolle wallace, the note, the palm, top, wall street journal

Daily Briefing: ‘On to the Next Precipice’

• “Scooter” Libby has “a problem” in the leak investigation, his attorney says. Robert Bennett: “Fitzgerald is putting together a big case, and he’s looking for little pieces of a puzzle.” [WP, NYT, WSJ]
• Rejection of the Iraqi constitution by two Sunni provinces “guarantees the guerrilla war will go on,” says one historian. “As one official put it, every time the administration appears on the edge of a precipice, it manages to cobble together a result that allows it to move on to the next precipice,” according to The Washington Post. Per The New York Times, “Senior officials say the intelligence reports flowing over their desks in recent months argue that even if democratic institutions take hold, the insurgency may strengthen.” [WP, NYT, USAT, USAT]
• House Republican leaders are preparing to cut up to $50b from ‘06 budget; fiscal conservatives win out. [WP]
• Miers will provide answers to Senate questionnaire today; strategists hope nomination will gain traction. [NYT]
• Some Republicans are concerned that Bush’s go-slow approach to rebuilding the Gulf Coast will create additional problems. [LAT]

• Republicans worry Democrats could gain in ‘06 on ethics issue. GOP lobbyist: “You have Frist, DeLay, the Plame case, and you have Democrats with a theme: the culture of corruption and incompetence. [Republicans] are concerned that next year could be a bad year.” [LAT]
• DeLay raised nearly $1m in three months before his indictment; he has $1.2m on hand. [NYT]
• Media analysts criticize Judith Miller and The New York Times for their decision-making. [WP]
• Lautenberg suggests charges may be filed over Armstrong Williams’ contract. [USAT]
• Dan Bartlett, Nicolle Wallace choose topic of presidential radio address on Wednesdays; number of listeners is unknown. [NYT]
• Hillary reaps cash from Hollywood. [WT]

READ MORE: 2006, 2008, Democrats, Republicans, SCOTUS, armstrong williams, bill frist, budget, conservatives, dan bartlett, frank lautenberg, george w. bush, harriet miers, hillary clinton, iraq, judith miller, katrina, leak investigation, lewis libby, nicolle wallace, patrick fitzgerald, robert bennett, senate, tom delay, valerie plame, war on terror