“I say we tell him that he just went away for a while,” Chief of Staff Andy Card said.

WASHINGTON — The death of fellow Republican operative and close friend Strom Thurmond over the weekend has created serious difficulties for the Bush Administration as they grapple with how to inform the President of the news.

The nation’s longest-serving senator will be laid to rest today. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina died Thursday at 100.

“Strom and the President were like family,” Card said. “The President just loved to sit on his lap and be read to. Fortunately, he had a chance to do this again two weeks ago.”

White House staff members admitted that they’ve been stalling with the important task of informing President Bush.

“We’re all planning on coming together as a group when we tell him the sad news, and we’ll be there for his support,” Lynne Cheney said. “My biggest fear is that he’ll ask us ‘When’s Strommy coming back?’”

“It’s important that we don’t tell him that Strom went to sleep forever,” Mrs. Cheney said, “because that could make the President terrified of taking his afternoon nap and never waking.”