Four Bush Cabinet members to resign

The expected turnover in President Bush's second-term Cabinet kicked into high gear Monday with news that four top officials had decided to leave their posts.

Secretary of State Colin Powell submitted his resignation on Friday and announced it publicly on Monday.

Various news services reported that Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Education Secretary Rod Paige had also told President Bush of their intentions to leave the administration.

Last week, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Don Evans announced their resignations. The Cabinet includes the vice president and the heads of 15 executive departments.

Powell received credit for being one of the most effective managers of State Department operations in recent memory. State Department veterans told Government Executive in June 2001 that in just a few months on the job, Powell had dramatically increased the focus on management issues at the department.

"I'm not just coming in to serve the foreign policy needs of the American people, I'm coming in as the leader and the manager of this department," Powell said to the applause of State Department workers during his first week in office.

In an interview with Government Executive a little more than a year ago, Powell said he remained committed to making the State Department work as effectively as possible.

"It's the philosophy I used as a soldier," he said. "You make clear what you're trying to accomplish, you make clear the mission, you go get the resources needed for that mission, you take care of the people who are entrusted to your care, because they are the ones who are going to accomplish the mission; you do everything you can to empower them to get it done."

In a news conference Monday, Powell said he would stay on the job "for a number of weeks or a month or two," until a successor is nominated and undergoes the Senate confirmation process.

National Journal reported in October that Abraham likely was on the way out. Industry lobbyists described him as difficult to work with and an ineffective representative of Bush's energy policies, placing at least part of the blame on him for Congress's failure to pass the Bush administration's energy bill. "It's hard to be secretary of energy and have [Vice President Dick] Cheney run energy policy," one lobbyist said.

Veneman was the first female Agriculture secretary and only the second Californian to hold the post. She previously served as secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture and in positions at the Agriculture Department under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

National Journal gave Veneman an overall grade of "D" in its rankings of Cabinet secretaries in January 2003, but awarded her a "B" for her management efforts. USDA insiders said Veneman's accumulated experience in various jobs at USDA equipped her to use the skills of career professionals to the maximum.

Alisa Harrison, Veneman's press secretary, said her accomplishments included increasing the availability of Internet services to farmers and earning the first clean financial audits of the department.

In a statement released Monday, Paige highlighted his efforts to help win passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's landmark education reform measure.

"No Child Left Behind is indelibly launched. A culture of accountability is gripping the American educational landscape," Paige said. "At the end of the president's first term, I will have served longer than any Republican United States Secretary of Education. At that time, my work here will be accomplished."