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AP is reporting:
WASHINGTON (AP) White House legal counsel Harriet Miers has submitted her resignation.
Sorry, no link yet. I got it in my e-mail.
Update:
She's leaving because, "basically, she's been here six years."
And, during that time, managed to be part of a near-catastrophic conservative coalition crack-up over her Supreme Court nomination. That can't have made any of the rest of her time in the White House particularly pleasant.
Update:
Snow said Miers' departure did not signal the beginning of an exodus of senior officials after six bruising years at the White House. Asked if other officials were poised to go, Snow said, ``I'm aware of none and anticipate none.''
He said Miers, a loyal adviser to the president for years, has been having conversations with white House chief of staff Joshua Bolten about leaving for some time and both of them agreed that it was time for a change at the White House office of legal counsel.
The press always portrays any resignation at the White House as the "beginning of an exodus" or a "sign that years of hardship have taken their toll," but isn't it perfectly natural for folks to leave administrations some years in? I have a friend who went to work over there two years ago, and I haven't seen her since. They work insane hours facing every problem the country and the world can throw at one building, and if they don't stick around for all eight years, it means the floor is falling out from under Bush's feet?
It's always been my understanding that not a whole lot of folks generally make it through eight years of any Presidential administration. I'll have to look up stats. This being a Republican administration led by George W. Bush, the press does all it can to make it even more "bruising" than other presidencies. No wonder folks decide to head for lucrative K Street and consultant jobs with no press corps and shorter hours.
Update:
Unsurprisingly, a Google search finds that when Clinton's White House spokesman Mike McCurry left in the wake of the Lewinsky scandal, accolades for McCurry's "intelligence and wit" and details of McCurry's plans to "spend more time with his family" came way before any suggestion that he might be leaving due to stress the scandal had put on the administration.
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, July 23) -- White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry will leave his post this fall after 3 1/2 years of banter and spin with the press corps.
President Bill Clinton, who announced McCurry's departure Thursday, said he has named Joe Lockhart, McCurry's deputy, to replace him. Clinton said he regretted McCurry's decision.
"Few could match his intelligence and wit from the podium," Clinton said.
McCurry, who generally has been popular with White House reporters, said he wants to change careers after 22 years as a Washington press secretary. He also has served as a State Department spokesman and worked for Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y) and Sen. Bob Kerrey's unsuccessful 1992 presidential campaign.
"I am going to have a good time with my family," McCurry said. "You know, people always say how they're leaving to spend more time with their families, and I will. But I think my family has held up pretty well and probably would have been just as happy to have me stay here, if I had wanted to. They were very supportive."
McCurry said he hopes to accept some speaking invitations, do consulting work and also would like to teach.
He denied he decided to leave the administration because the stress of responding to constant questions about the Monica Lewinsky investigation. McCurry said he wrote a resignation letter to Clinton May 29, telling him he was ready to change careers.
"I assure you it had nothing to do with anything else," McCurry said.
"He denied it? Good enough for us!", said the AP then.
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