The Daily Background

It’s no joke. Evidently Rove first considered leaving the White House after Republicans lost control of Congress last November, but did not want to leave the president before the “troop surge” had been announced. His decision is said to be motivated for the sake of his family (”As much as I’d like to be here, I’ve got to do this for the sake of my family,” he said), although it probably doesn’t hurt that he’s at the center of the US Attorney purge scandal as well.

White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten has reportedly told senior aides that if they do not leave by Labor Day, September 3rd, they are expected to stay for the rest of Bush’s term.

The New York Times notes today that while the White House has cited executive privilege in the past to prevent ex-aides such as Harriet Miers from testifying before Congress, “from the time he leaves office, Mr. Rove will no longer have the protection of White House lawyers and will be more on his own when it comes to dealing with Congressional subpoenas.”

Rove is expected to make public comments later today in a press conference (the first people Rove told were, perhaps unsurprisingly, his friends at the Wall Street Journal editorial board).

The soon-to-be-former Deputy Chief of Staff told the Journal that he is retiring from politics for good, will not advise or endorse anymore campaigns, and that he hopes to write a book on the Bush presidency (something he has been encouraged to do by the president himself) and teach in the future.

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