WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL HARRIET MIERS HAS SUBMITTED HER RESIGNATION, WASHINGTON
HAS SAID.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said President George
W Bush reluctantly accepted her resignation, which takes effect on 31 January.
Mr Snow said a search for a successor was under way.
Mr Bush nominated Ms Miers in October 2005 to the Supreme
Court, but she had to drop out after lawmakers questioned her qualifications.
Asked why she was quitting her job, Mr Snow said that
"basically, she has been here six years".
"As somebody said earlier today 'She put 12 years of
service into six years,'" Mr Snow said.
Court debacle
Ms Miers - who has no judicial experience - was nominated
by President Bush to the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
But she was forced to withdraw as a nominee after coming
in for criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.
She was reprimanded by Senators for giving "incomplete
to insulting" answers to written questions.
In a letter confirming her decision to withdraw from
the nomination process, Ms Miers wrote that continuing to seek Senate approval would prove to be a burden on the White House.
The withdrawal of Ms Miers was seen as a significant
blow President Bush at the time.
'Straightforward advice'
Ms Miers has been a trusted and loyal adviser to Mr Bush
since the 1980s.
The two met in Texas,
where she was his personal lawyer, then served on his gubernatorial campaign in 1994 and again during his presidential election
of 2000.
Officially described as deputy chief of staff for policy,
Ms Miers has been serving as President Bush's top legal counsel since November 2004.
At the time
of her appointment, Mr Bush said he relied on her for "straightforward advice".