Treasury Secretary Snow Hangs On to Tough Job

Snow, 65, will continue to serve as the nation's chief financial officer and leader of the president's economic team, making him the point man for selling Bush's ambitious plans to restructure Social Security and revamp the U.S. tax code.

"The president met with him this afternoon," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said. "He asked Secretary Snow to continue serving in a second term, and the president is pleased that Secretary Snow agreed to continue his service. He is a valuable member of our economic team."

Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols said Snow was "honored to serve the president and to help him implement his agenda to strengthen the economy." Neither Bush nor Snow commented publicly.

The White House announcement makes Snow one of only two confirmed survivors so far of the president's first-term Cabinet. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld also received a public invitation to stay on board.

Late Wednesday, Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi became the ninth of 15 Cabinet officers to announce his intention to depart. A Naval Academy graduate and combat-decorated Vietnam veteran, Principi said in his resignation letter, "It is now time for me to move on to fresh opportunities and different challenges."

Bush praised Principi as a "tireless advocate" for America's 25 million veterans, citing his efforts to improve healthcare at VA hospitals, shorten waiting lists for medical services and reduce backlogs for disability claims.

The president's decision to keep Snow on the payroll was a victory for the secretary and his allies, who had waged an intense lobbying campaign to convince administration skeptics that the former railroad boss was still the best man for the Treasury job.

"We had a full-court press to keep him," said Stephen Moore, president of the conservative Club for Growth. "There were a few people in the White House who wanted him out, but common sense prevailed."

Still, some conservatives expressed concern that Snow's influence had been undermined by widespread reports that the White House wanted someone else to sell Bush's second-term economic agenda on Wall Street, Main Street and Capitol Hill.