WASHINGTON – Beginning to put his team in place for his second term, President Bush decided to keep Andy Card as White House chief of staff, retaining an unflappable veteran of the Reagan and first Bush presidencies.

Card’s first assignment: help the president reshape the administration for the term that begins in January, sorting through possible personnel changes in the Cabinet and elsewhere.

“The Chief,” as Card, 57, is known at the White House, was appointed four years ago this month, even before the 2000 recount was resolved.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the subject of his future did not come up in several meetings with Bush since the election.

“Needless to say, either one of us would discuss it with the other before discussing it with you,” Rumsfeld told a roomful of reporters. Rumsfeld aides have said they expect him to remain in the job for the start of Bush’s new term, although whether he aims to stay the full four years is unclear.

A Treasury Department official in charge of keeping tabs on the nation’s financial markets, including Wall Street, announced that he intends to leave his post at the end of December. Brian Roseboro, the department’s undersecretary for domestic finance, revealed his intentions in a resignation letter to Bush. Roseboro, who has been at Treasury since 2001, was sworn in as undersecretary on April 16.

Top White House officials are said to be leaning on many of their subordinates to stay in place, part of an effort to maintain stability.

Shouting not over for Howard Dean

Former presidential candidate Howard Dean is considering a bid to become chairman of the national Democratic Party.

“He told me he was thinking about it,” Steve Grossman, himself a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Monday.

The roughly 240 members of the DNC will elect a new chairman early next year. Several names are already being mentioned, including former Clinton aide Harold Ickes; Donna Brazile, who ran Al Gore’s presidential campaign; and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

Shouting not over for Howard Dean

Former presidential candidate Howard Dean is considering a bid to become chairman of the national Democratic Party.

“He told me he was thinking about it,” Steve Grossman, himself a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Monday.

The roughly 240 members of the DNC will elect a new chairman early next year. Several names are already being mentioned, including former Clinton aide Harold Ickes; Donna Brazile, who ran Al Gore’s presidential campaign; and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.