Why Did Claude Allen Resign?

Still a mystery: why White House domestic policy czar Claude Allen abruptly resigned last week, just days after the State of the Union?

Republicans who know Allen believe the explanation cited by the White House and by Allen -- that he wanted to spend more time with his family -- rang true. But, they say, that desire applies to virtually every member of the president's senior staff.

Another intruiging possiblility is that Allen resigned to protest the administration's failure to protest new Air Force regulations governing the conduct of chaplains.

The Washington Times's Julia Duin has covered the story for months, watching as the service struggled to rewrite guidelines after Jewish and Muslim chaplains protested about aggressive evangelicals -- and as evangelicals protested that they were not allowed to exercise their faith, which requires them to minister in Jesus's name.

The new rules, promulgated on 2/9, were not enthusiastically endorsed by moral conservative interest groups in DC -- Duin calls them "a step forward" -- and it's still not clear whether an Air Force chaplain can affirmatively cite the authority and singularity of Christ when praying on behalf of an ecumenical audience.

Duin's suggestion is that Allen resigned to protest the administration's failure to pressure Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld to explictly grant chaplains the right to exercize their religion without encumberance or interference.

Allen would have protested that the new regulations stopped short of allowing evangelicals to be evangelicals.

The Times reports that "a military source" said Allen "resigned to protest the White House's refusal to lean on the Petagon about the issue."

We were not able to get in touch with Allen to ask about the story.