Pundit Said to Be Bush’s Press Pick

Conservative pundit Tony Snow will be named White House press secretary, Republican officials said Tuesday night, in the latest move by President Bush to remake his White House.

Snow’s appointment is expected to be announced today.

He will replace Scott McClellan, who is stepping down in a White House makeover intended to reenergize Bush’s presidency and lift record-low approval ratings. McClellan served as Bush’s spokesman -- the most prominent public figure in the White House after Bush -- for nearly three years.

Snow, 50, a Fox News commentator and speech writer in the White House under Bush’s father, has written and spoken frequently about the current president -- not always in a complimentary way.

The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, circulated unflattering observations by Snow about Bush.

“His [Bush’s] wavering conservatism has become an active concern among Republicans, who wish he would stop cowering under the bed and start fighting back against the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Wilson,” Snow wrote in November after Republicans failed to win the governor’s race in Virginia. “The newly passive George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.”

Snow, in an Associated Press interview Tuesday, said: “It’s public record. I’ve written some critical stuff. When you’re a columnist, you’re going to criticize and you’re going to praise.”

He declined to say whether he had been offered the White House job. Republicans close to the administration said that the press secretary’s job had been offered to Snow and that he had accepted. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of Bush’s dislike of news leaks.

They said a factor in Snow’s decision was his diagnosis of cancer last year, which led to the removal of his colon. He had a CAT scan last week and delayed his decision while he consulted with doctors.