June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Deputy White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, a native Texan and long-time aide to President George W. Bush, has been tapped to succeed Ari Fleischer as White House Press Secretary, two administration officials said.

McClellan, 35, will take over from Fleischer after Fleischer leaves his White House post at the end of July, the officials said. McClellan declined to comment.

McClellan has stood in for Fleischer at crucial times during Bush's first three years in office -- most recently when the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded over Texas on Feb. 1. Fleischer, who makes a practice of declining comment on administration personnel matters, said when asked who would succeed him that McClellan would have to be on anyone's guess list.

McClellan grew up in Texas politics; his mother, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, is the Texas State Comptroller. McClellan's brother Mark, an attorney and a physician, is the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

Besides serving as the administration's voice in the first hours after the Columbia disaster, McClellan addressed reporters in March, 2001, after Chinese fighter jets forced down a U.S. spy plane. He was also at Bush's side in August, 2001, when Bush reached a decision on allowing medical research on human stem cells.

McClellan first went to work for Bush in 1999, when the then- governor was beginning his presidential campaign. He became Bush's traveling press secretary midway through that year and accompanied Bush to Washington after he became president.

Sense of Humor

McClellan, a Texas Longhorns football, basketball, and baseball fan, is also known for his self-deprecating sense of humor.

``Why does it always have to be about Mark?'' he asked, with mock indignation, when reporters crowded into his White House office to learn more about his brother's selection as FDA Commissioner.

Earlier this month, McClellan was behind an office prank that resulted in the World Series trophy that belonged to the Anaheim Angels, who were visiting the White House that day, ending up on Fleischer's desk.

Fleischer is a diehard New York Yankees fan, and the Angels eliminated the Yankees from the playoffs last year on their way to a World Series title.

A year earlier, he helped arrange for Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson to walk up to the podium during one of Fleischer's televised daily briefings; in 2001, the Diamondbacks defeated the Yankees in the World Series.