His Search For A New Groove

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Bush's team seems tired and short on inspiration. Advisers anticipate a high-profile departure or two from the White House staff before February. But the President dismisses the idea that any sort of housecleaning is in order. "Who do you think is talking?" he asks when he hears of public speculation about firings and resignations in his White House. Having escaped at least the first round of the CIA-leak investigation without being indicted, Rove, say associates, has taken the lead in crafting next year's agenda, brainstorming not only within the White House but also with lobbyists, think-tank experts, lawmakers and former officials of both the Reagan and the George H.W. Bush administrations. Friends of Rove, however, say that he feels bruised by the leak probe and that his relationship with his boss has never fully recovered from the fact that early in the investigation, he underplayed his role as a source for the journalists who revealed CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity. Says a Bush confidant: "The relationship is not bad, just changed."

Another sign of the investigation's toll on the White House operation is how much less Vice President Dick Cheney, 64, is seen and felt in the West Wing these days. The indictment of his former top aide, Scooter Libby, "hit him hard. Scooter was like a brother and a policy soul mate," says a Cheney friend. The Vice President once worked the same famously long hours as Rove and chief of staff Andrew Card, but now he has scaled back his White House schedule to being there "when he needs to be," the friend says, and otherwise keeps a regimen that is "a little more reflective of his age, station and health." Yet Cheney is still a big draw with the Republican base. The White House says he will have a heavy run of speeches on Iraq and economic policy over the next two months and will have a grueling fund-raising schedule for the midterm elections.

Whatever shifts may be taking place within the inner circle, the Bush operation remains frustratingly insular to its Republican allies outside the White House. When Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter wanted to have a private word with the President last week about the extension of the Patriot Act, he put on a tuxedo and waited in line at one of the White House Christmas parties. But Specter denies any suggestion that Bush has been distant and says the President remains confident and sunny, needling Specter about his raggedy trench coat during a trip to Pennsylvania: "Arlen, we're going to have to upgrade your wardrobe."

In any case, the White House is making an effort to smooth its often tense relations with Republicans on Capitol Hill. G.O.P. congressional aides say their White House counterparts are consulting them for the first time in five years. And Bush's speech last week touting a resurgent economy came only days after House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate majority leader Bill Frist privately implored Card and Bush counselor Dan Bartlett for more cheerleading from the White House. "Offense," says a top congressional aide. "We want him to play offense."