Bolten named chief of staff

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Amid persistent calls for a White House shake-up and a slump in the polls, President George W. Bush on Tuesday announced the departure of longtime chief of staff Andrew Card and replaced him with an administration insider.

The appointment of budget director Joshua Bolten failed to satisfy critics who had urged Bush to bring in outsiders to revitalize a close-knit White House plagued by a slew of political problems from the belated response to Hurricane Katrina to the conduct of the Iraq war.

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York called the shuffle "simply rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."

"If the White House is looking to change course, they picked the wrong person to toss overboard," said Sen. Richard Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois.

Card, who has been at Bush's side from the start of his presidency in 2001, is the highest ranking official to leave this White House which is under pressure, even within Republican circles, to add new blood to a struggling team.

Bolten would have the authority to make other personnel changes if he deemed them necessary, said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. But he declined to say whether top aides like political adviser Karl Rove would stay.

"All of us serve at the pleasure of the president," McClellan said. "It's premature to talk about any future decisions that may or may not be made."

Over the past year, the White House has been fiercely criticized as it tried to weather a number of crises, including the controversies over Bush's domestic surveillance program and the now-abandoned sale of some key U.S. port operations to an Arab-owned company.

In the Oval Office, Bush said Card had offered and he had accepted his resignation. He will leave the White House on April 14 and return to private life.

"I have relied on Andy's wise counsel, his calm in crisis, his absolute integrity and his tireless commitment to public service," Bush said with Card and Bolten at his side.

If Card had stayed until September he would have become the longest-serving chief of staff ever, surpassing the record of Sherman Adams, Dwight Eisenhower's chief of staff for five years and nine months.

Bush, who prides himself on loyalty and demands the same from his staff, has resisted pressure to bring in new aides to re-energize his second term. Apart from Colin Powell stepping down as secretary of state and Condoleezza Rice moving from national security adviser to replace him, turnover at the highest levels has been minimal.

'NEED SOME NEW BLOOD'

Some congressional Republicans, anxious about Bush's record low approval ratings as they near the November elections and fearing he could undermine their efforts to retain control of the House and Senate, welcomed the change cautiously.

"I don't think it was about, frankly, trying to shake up your staff or anything like that," said Sen. Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican on Fox News. "I'm one of those who has said I think they need some new blood, more people of stature at the White House."

Despite job performance ratings in the mid and upper 30s, Bush continues to bring in huge sums of money for Republicans, although some have distanced themselves from the White House.

"Don't underestimate me," Bush warned on Monday when a reporter suggested he had spent his political capital.

Bolten, who rides a Harley-Davidson and plays bass guitar in a rock band, became director of the Office of Management and Budget after serving as deputy chief of staff in the White House from 2001 to 2003.

The son of a CIA officer, he is known in the White House as a quietly effective manager. McClellan said he expected a smooth transition.

Lott described Bolten as "thorough .. your classic chief of staff that makes sure the schedule is carried out on time and that the paper gets where it needs to be and the president's decisions are implemented."

Card spent many years working in Republican administrations dating back to Ronald Reagan. He notified Bush of the September 11 attacks, served through the war in Afghanistan, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and shepherded Bush's two successful nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland)