President Bush left Friday for a holiday weekend with his longtime friend Don Evans amid speculation the former commerce secretary was a top candidate to succeed Treasury Secretary John Snow.
The Wall Street Journal online reported that Evans had emerged as the front-runner for the Treasury post.
A Republican with close ties to the White House also told Reuters that he believed Evans was the leading candidate.
A barrage of media stories in the past two days have suggested that Snow may leave within a month and people with close ties to the administration have said they believe the White House is moving close to a decision on his successor.
A source with ties to the White House speculated that Evans' chances of being picked were particularly high if Snow decided to resign within the next several days, given his strong Washington ties and proximity to White House power.
But if Snow delays quitting to allow the White House to complete a fuller search for a replacement, chances rise for another frequently mentioned contender, U.S. Ambassador to India David Mulford.
Evans and his wife boarded a helicopter on Friday afternoon with Bush and his wife, Laura, to go to the Camp David presidential retreat for the Memorial Day weekend. Also with them was White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Earlier in the day, White House spokesman Tony Snow mentioned to reporters that Evans would be going to Camp David with the Bushes. But he cautioned against reading anything into the visit.
"I don't know what the president and Don Evans are going to be speaking (about)," Tony Snow told a news briefing. "They didn't just sort of say, hey Evans, we got a story about John Snow. Why don't you hop on Marine One and come up to Camp David with me?"
Snow jokingly added, "Or maybe he did — he said let's get the press really womped up."
Evans, chief executive of the Financial Services Forum, is among a handful of people whose names have been mentioned as possible replacements for Snow.
Evans formed the business lobby group after he left Commerce and it serves as a nerve center for dozens of high-profile executives from Wall Street and elsewhere who want an influential voice in Washington.
Along with Mulford, whose portfolio also includes prior Treasury service, other candidates include current Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, ex-Bush economic adviser Stephen Friedman, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Bush economic aide Allan Hubbard.
People close to the Bush administration have said that Snow is likely to leave his job not long after his June 9-10 trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, for the Group of Eight meeting of finance ministers.
Bush, asked at a news conference on Thursday about Snow's future, said the Treasury chief had not talked to him about resignation. "I think he is doing a fine job," Bush said.
Press secretary Tony Snow insisted the talk about John Snow's departure was not coming from the White House.
"I am sure Secretary Snow has had conversations with people at the White House. Whether it's about resignation, I just — I don't know," he said.
Evans, 60, is a former Texas oilman like Bush and has long had a tight relationship with the president.
He chaired Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, expanding a role he played when Bush successfully ran for governor of Texas in 1994 and 1998.
Evans is the former chief executive of Tom Brown Inc, an energy company he joined in 1975 as an oil rig "roughneck."