Friends say he is also worried about burnout and losing touch with his young
family due to the pressure of one of most high profile jobs in US
politics.

"I would bet he will go after the midterms," said a leading Democratic consultant in Washington. "Nobody thinks it's working but
they can't get rid of him – that would look awful. He needs the right
sort
of job to go to but the consensus is he'll go."

An official from the Bill Clinton era said that "no one will be surprised"
if Mr Emanuel left after the midterm elections in November, when the
Democratic party will battle to save its majorities in the house of
representatives and the senate.

It is well known in Washington that arguments have developed between pragmatic
Mr Emanuel, a veteran in Congress where he was known for driving
through
compromises, and the idealistic inner circle who followed Mr Obama to
the
White House.

His abrasive style has rubbed some people the wrong way, while there has been
frustration among Mr Obama's closest advisers that he failed to
deliver a
smooth ride for the president's legislative programme that his
background
promised.

"It might not be his fault, but the perception is there," said the consultant, who asked not to be named. "Every vote has been tough,
from
health care to energy to financial reform.

"Democrats have not stood behind the president in the way Republicans did
for George W Bush, and that was meant to be Rahm's job."

There were sharp differences over health care reform, with Mr Emanuel arguing
that public hostility about cost should have forced them into
producing a
scaled down package. Mr Obama and advisers including David Axelrod,
the
chief strategist, and Valerie Jarrett, a businesswoman and mentor from

Chicago, decided to push through with grander legislation anyway.

Mr Emanuel has reportedly told friends that his role as White House chief of
staff was "only an eighteen month job" because of its intensity.

Regarded as the most demanding after president, it involves controlling the
president's agenda, enforcing White House message discipline as well
as
liaising with Congress.

His departure would regarded as another sign of how Mr Obama's presidency has
been far more troubled than expected.

Mr Emanuel has privately expressed a readiness to run for mayor of Chicago,
which is also his home town though he was never part of the Obama set
and
did not endorse the then senator in the Democratic primary in 2008.

That would however depend on Mayor Richard Daley stepping down when he is up
for re-election in 2011.

The chief obstacle to taking the White House job originally was doubts about
moving his three children from Chicago. According to another former
Clinton
official, he has let friends know that he is "very sensitive to the
idea that he is not a good father for having done this".

One of Washington's more colourful characters, Mr Emanuel is the son of Jewish
immigrants and was an accomplished ballet dancer at school. He served
as a
civilian volunteer with the Israeli Defence Force in the 1991 Gulf
War.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Friday but on
Monday, Mr Emanuel issued a statement: “This is BS. And if you need it
for
translation, it’s baseless.”