Whitman has been a controversial figure among conservative Republicans. She upset GOP leadership when she vetoed a partial-birth abortion bill, but she is considered a moderate on environmental issues.
She is also being considered as secretary of the Labor Department, Fox News Channel reported Wednesday night, and has been mentioned as a possibility for U.S. trade representative, among other posts.
She has drawn praise for her land-use policies from some groups and criticism from others on budget cuts in the state environmental agency.
Phyllis Schlafly, president of the conservative Eagle Forum, called Whitman a liability to the Republican Party and a feminist who has aroused antagonism within the ranks of the GOP.
"It's hard for me to see why we keep hearing her name," said Schlafly. "She doesn't have any significant following in the Republican Party."
Environmentalists say her record has been mixed. On the one hand, Whitman strongly supported preservation of 1 million acres of open spaces in the state, but staff cuts and reductions in fines imposed on businesses crippled the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's enforcement capabilities, critics say.
The EPA, which is composed of 10 regional offices plus the Office of Research and Development, has a $7 billion annual budget and is responsible for protection of the nation's resources. Whitman would replace Carol Browner, a leftist Clinton appointee who raised the ire of Republican congressional leaders after issuing stricter regulations on diesel fuel and waterways.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., president of the New York-based Water Keepers Alliance, gave Whitman's possible appointment mixed reviews, saying Bush could do worse.
"She has a mixed record in New Jersey. She's done good things with land acquisition, but environmentalists are distraught over her enforcement record. She gutted her agency's enforcement capacity," Kennedy said.
"The enforcement capacity dropped 50 percent from when she took over and placed some political hack from south Jersey in there who drove the best enforcers out of the agency. It's a toothless agency now."
Officials for Sierra Club, a pro-Democrat environmental protection organization, hopes Congress asks Whitman about enforcement cuts in the New Jersey agency during her tenure as governor. "We hope the Senate holds her feet to the fire over those cuts," said Allen Mattison, spokesman for the Sierra Club.
Marcia Bystryn, executive director of the New York League of Conservation Voters, said she was "cautiously optimistic" about Whitman. Whitman lacks a science background, she said, but "nobody's perfect".
Bystryn said she was not ready to say the state budget cuts Whitman made would be carried over to what she does in Washington.
Left-wing groups are thrilled Whitman is being considered for a post in the Bush administration, but say they believe she was lured to Washington to prevent her from voting on abortion bills.
"I am concerned they are not being chosen for posts that would affect women's 'reproductive rights,' positions like [Health and Human Services], attorney general or even defense. The candidates for those are all 'anti-choice,'" claimed Kate Michelman, president of NARAL, a pro-abortion group.
Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood, characterized Whitman's potential appointment as Bush's settling of political debts.
"I was surprised that she considered the post. I thought she'd be aiming for one of the more substantive Cabinet posts," said Feldt. "The Bush administration is paying their debts."
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