Bush Will Alter Sununu Travel Policy, Aide Says

President Bush is clearly disappointed with the behavior of Chief of Staff John H. Sununu and plans to make changes in the White House policy governing the use of military airplanes, a senior White House official said Thursday.

“Clearly, this is a problem for us,” the aide said, reflecting the widespread feeling around the White House that Sununu’s travel at taxpayer expense had for the first time tainted the Bush White House with the kind of issue that Bush strenuously has tried to avoid.

“The President wants to avoid even the appearance of impropriety,” the official said. Bush is not angry but “we’ve got to demand higher standards,” the official said.

Once White House counsel C. Boyden Gray completes his review of the current White House policy on use of military planes, “there obviously will be some changes,” the official said.

Gray’s review of the policy is expected to be completed “in a few days,” White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said. Gray described the review as informal and said it would be completed quickly.

Since Sunday, Bush and his aides have been struggling to find the right way to handle the issue of Sununu’s travel. The controversy began when the Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report first disclosed Sununu’s extensive use of military airplanes--at taxpayer expense--for such travel as weekend ski trips and visits to New Hampshire, where he served as governor and still maintains a home.

On the one hand, Bush values loyalty and returns it to those who work for him. As a result, he has been unwilling to criticize Sununu directly. On the other hand, Bush’s aides have been keen to distance the President from the controversy, which they quickly realized would strike a strong negative chord with voters.

A top Administration official said the message from the White House would be: “This is the governor’s problem,” not Bush’s.

Bush advisers have been particularly taken aback by Sununu’s handling of the issue. Sununu’s office “couldn’t have done it worse,” one aide said.

Sununu knew for a considerable time that reporters were examining his use of government planes, but he did nothing to change his practices. Last Friday, having refused to answer questions from the Post and knowing that the newspaper planned to run its story over the weekend, the chief of staff got in a government plane and flew home to New Hampshire for the weekend, returning Monday morning.

Then, although his aides asserted that he had followed the letter of White House policy, Sununu did not release until Tuesday records showing that he had reimbursed the government to a limited degree for at least some of his travels. The effect was to prolong the press coverage of the story and the resulting embarrassment to Bush.

“It’s the downside of Sununu’s style,” a longtime associate said. When challenged, “he digs in.”

The White House difficulty in deciding how to publicly handle Sununu’s conduct could be seen all week in the statements by Fitzwater. Monday, for example, the day after the story became public, Fitzwater made clear to reporters that Bush had ordered Sununu to release his travel records. He also carefully disassociated Bush from Sununu’s actions, saying Sununu had full discretion to make his own travel decisions.

“It’s up to him how he conducts himself, how he utilizes the aircraft,” Fitzwater said.

Wednesday, after Sununu’s travel records had been released, Fitzwater repeatedly said in response to questions that Sununu had fully complied with White House policy, but he just as often declined to endorse the propriety of what the chief of staff had done. “I don’t want to register any judgments or interpretations on the matter,” he said several times.

Now, Bush and his aides are clearly hoping that the decision to have the White House counsel’s office review the policy will put an end to public discussion of the issue. In an apparent effort to pursue that strategy, Sununu’s aides were steadfastly declining to answer additional questions about his travel or related expenses.