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TOPICS
Embattled SEC chief resigns post
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt resigned under pressure Tuesday night, saying in a letter to President Bush that "the turmoil surrounding my chairmanship" had made it difficult to stay in the job.
"Rather than be a burden to you or the agency, I feel it is in everyone's best interest if I step aside now, to allow the agency to continue the important efforts we have started," the letter added.
The White House quickly accepted Pitt's resignation.
Pitt made a number of political blunders as chairman, the last of which was his failure to inform fellow SEC members about the role that former CIA and FBI Director William Webster had played on the auditing committee for U.S. Technologies, a company facing investor lawsuits alleging fraud.
Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, who now is in line to become chairman of the Banking Committee in the wake of GOP Senate victories, said the White House must now find someone who is "able, experienced and above reproach."
A White House official told the Associated Press Bush will not name a replacement immediately.
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