US President George W. Bush is planning a massive shake-up of his economic team, replacing four of five top officials including his Commerce and Treasury secretaries, the Washington Post reported Monday. The overhaul would be the second in two years for the president's economic team, and is a bid to put in place a team of top-tier aides to help sell his ambitious second-term domestic agenda of overhauling the national Social Security pension scheme and rewriting US tax laws.
The Post reported that Joshua Bolten is likely to remain in his key post as White House budget director, while Commerce Secretary Donald Evans and chief economic adviser Stephen Friedman tendered their resignations earlier this month.
Treasury Secretary John Snow is expected to leave in the next six months, according to the daily, which reported that Gregory Mankiw, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, also is expected to depart.
For the Treasury Secretary position, a senior administration official told the Post that Bush is considering several well-known figures, including New York Governor George Pataki, ex-US Senator Phil Gramm, and former Credit Suisse Group chief executive John Mack.