Bush leaning toward friend Evans for Treasury-NYT

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

NEW YORK, May 27 (Reuters) US President George W Bush is leaning toward having his old friend Donald Evans take over the Treasury Department after an effort to woo a Wall Street star failed, The New York Times today reported.

Citing Republicans with close ties to the White House, the Times reported that Evans, the former commerce secretary and a longtime Bush friend from Texas, was a leading contender to succeed John Snow, who has indicated he wishes to step down by early July.

The Times said that Evans was expected to spend the weekend with Bush at Camp David, but noted that White House press secretary Tony Snow had cautioned that the media should not make too much of the visit.

Evans, a friend of Bush's for 30 years who has spent most of professional life in the oil industry, declined to comment to the Times.

The consideration of Evans marks a shift in potential candidates from Wall Streeters to Bush insiders, the Times said.

Other possible candidates mentioned include Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Robert Zoellick, the deputy secretary of state and a former US trade representative, the newspaper added.

According to the Times, which cited administration ''allies,'' senior officials made overtures to prominent executives on Wall Street, including Henry Paulson Jr, the chairman of Goldman Sachs.

Paulson and others, however, had little interest in the post in part because neither Snow nor his predecessor had a significant role in shaping policy, the Times said.

REUTERS DKS KN1118

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