WASHINGTON — Mike Leavitt, the former Utah governor who is now a Bush Cabinet secretary, keeps getting mentioned as a possible addition to President Bush's inner circle of advisers — but no one can confirm it.

Monday's resignation of White House chief of staff Andy Card shuffled Bush's longstanding team of White House personnel, many of whom have been in the White House since he was first elected. Bush announced that former budget director Josh Bolten will replace Card.

Meanwhile, the New York Times and other media have indicated in the past week that Leavitt is on a short list of people being considered if any more reshuffling of White House staff continues. The reports cited unnamed Republican sources close to the White House.

Christina Pearson, spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department, said she has seen the same stories but has nothing to say about it.

Leavitt was in Utah last week talking about ways to prepare for a possible influenza pandemic — the bird flu — one of his top responsibilities as HHS secretary, along with overseeing the implementation of the Medicare prescription drug plan.

The White House press office, when asked about Leavitt's status, would only refer to the president's press conference last week, when Bush addressed staffing issues, saying he would not announce anything at that time.

"Look, they've got some ideas that I like and some I don't like. Put it that way," the president said.

White House press secretary Scott McClelland said that Card initially approached Bush about resigning on March 8 and reached a final decision at Camp David last weekend when Bush reluctantly accepted his resignation.

McClellan fielded several questions about other staff changes during Tuesday's White House briefing, particularly if any deputy chiefs of staff would be leaving.

McClellan said it was "premature to talk about any future decisions that may or may not be made."

He said Bolten has the "the full confidence of the president and his authority to manage the White House staff and to look at personnel issues throughout the administration and within the White House."

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