The White House on Tuesday rejected calls for U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign, with spokesman Tony Snow saying, “it's not going to happen.” “The president strongly supports the defense secretary. It's not going to happen,” Snow said, referring to calls from congressional Democrats for the defense secretary to resign, as opposition leaders move for a vote of no confidence in Rumsfeld as part of politicking before November's mid-term elections. Snow said Democrats were trying to turn Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld into “a bogeyman,” and he dismissed their calls for his resignation. After nearly six years in office, Rumsfeld is one of the longest-serving U.S. defense secretaries. “Creating Donald Rumsfeld as a bogeyman may make for good politics but would make for a very lousy strategy at this time,” Snow said. Congressmen from both parties have been publicly critical of Rumsfeld—largely for his perceived mishandling of the Iraq war. Rumsfeld has reportedly offered to resign several times during his tenure, but was repeatedly asked to stay by President Bush himself. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California and 10 other senior congressional Democrats wrote a letter to Bush on Monday demanding a new direction in Iraq, including a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops starting before the end of 2006. Reid said Tuesday that he hoped for a vote on Rumsfeld in the next two days as part of the debate over a defense appropriations bill. Senate Republicans, including Majority leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, warned they would use procedural measures to block any no-confidence resolution on Rumsfeld.
