WASHINGTON — Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a leading architect of the Iraq war, said yesterday he had been asked to remain in the Bush administration and will do so.

A spokesman declined to answer further questions, including how long Wolfowitz might stay at the Pentagon or whether he could be offered another position, such as U.N. ambassador.

Wolfowitz is the administration's leading neo-conservative, a group that advocates aggressive U.S. global leadership, including military force. Many critics have sought to blame him for policy mistakes that experts say contributed to instability in Iraq.

Some congressional aides and other experts have said Wolfowitz would have a hard time winning confirmation for another top administration job.

"I have been asked to stay and have accepted," Wolfowitz said through a spokesman. "I can't imagine life after Don Rumsfeld," he added, referring to his boss, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The White House has said Rumsfeld would remain in his job, although one official said he could leave the post in six to 10 months. The official added that Rumsfeld would prefer to bring in a new deputy before he departs because he thinks it unwise that the defense secretary and the deputy leave simultaneously.

Bolton to step down as top security adviser

John Bolton, the State Department's top international security official, will leave the post and be replaced by an arms-control specialist at the National Security Council, a senior U.S. official said yesterday.

Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, took such a vehement stand against North Korea that the Pyongyang government refused to accept him as a member of the U.S. delegation in talks designed to halt North Korea's nuclear program. No further negotiations have been scheduled.

Bolton's replacement would be Robert Joseph, who worked closely with Condoleezza Rice, Bush's choice to take over as secretary of state, on proliferation policy, the U.S. official said.

Efforts to reach Bolton were unsuccessful. There was no word on whether he would be offered another post.

Commerce nominee to sell Kellogg stock

Commerce Secretary-nominee and former Kellogg CEO Carlos Gutierrez has promised to sell his millions of dollars' worth of cereal-company stock if the Senate approves him for the Cabinet job.

Gutierrez's portfolio includes Kellogg common stock valued at $5 million to $25 million, holdings that brought him about $100,000 to $1 million in dividends in 2003 and 2004, a financial-disclosure report he filed as part of his confirmation proceedings shows.

"He will sell the stock, upon confirmation," White House spokeswoman Erin Healy said yesterday.

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Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who has thyroid cancer, will not preside Monday when the Supreme Court returns from the holidays, a court spokeswoman said yesterday.