Associated Press Karen Hughes, counselor to President Bush, greets reporters during a news conference at the western White House, Aug. 10, 2000 in Crawford, Texas. Hughes said Tuesday that she's resigning from the White House to return to Texas but will continue advising President Bush from afar. Hughes has worked for Bush since his days as Texas governor and is one of his closest confidants.

WASHINGTON - White House counselor Karen Hughes, one of President Bush's closest confidants and perhaps the most senior female aide to any modern American president, announced her resignation yesterday. Bush said he will continue to seek her advice from afar.

"She may be changing addresses, but she's not leaving my inner circle," the president said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press shortly after Hughes' surprise announcement made her the first top White House aide to depart Bush's staff.

Hughes, 45, an aide to Bush since his days as Texas governor, unveiled her plans for a summertime departure at a daily White House briefing.

"Later this summer, I'm going to be changing the way in which I serve the president. My husband and I have made a difficult but we think right decision to move our family home back to Texas," she said.

"Our roots are there," she said. "I guess we're a little homesick."

Bush, in an exclusive interview, said Hughes broke the news to him April 17 or 18 and he accepted the decision.

"I said, 'Karen, I've always valued your advice' and she said, 'You'll have my advice.' So I said to myself, 'As long as I have her advice, judgment and friendship, I support the move,'" the president said.

"This is Karen being Karen. She loves her family. She has always made it clear to me ever since I've known her that her husband and son come first in her life," Bush said.

Hughes and political aide Karl Rove were critical to Bush's rise from a two-term Texas governor to the presidency. Rove, a fellow Texan with a teen-age child of his own, has no plans to leave the White House, Bush said.

"I think there's a different set of circumstances," the president said.

Hughes and Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, are two of the most influential female aides in White House history.

Fifteen months into the Bush presidency, this is the period in which senior aides generally start considering departures from high-pressure White House and Cabinet posts. White House chief of staff Andrew Card has denied reports that he is considering leaving in the fall. Bush advisers say they expect Hughes will not be the last senior aide to leave this year.