EPA deputy administrator resigns

EPA Deputy Administrator Linda Fisher submitted her resignation Thursday, just one day before EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman steps down.

Fisher, who had been seen as a possible successor to Whitman, told President Bush in her resignation letter that she would step down July 11.

Fisher said she was stepping down to spend more time with her family. "I am also proud that, as deputy administrator, I have had the opportunity to contribute to the long record of environmental protection achieved by this agency under seven presidents over more than three decades," Fisher said. "While much work remains to be done, I look forward, at this time in my life, to spending more time with my two young children."

Republican Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne is considered a leading candidate to succeed Whitman, although Tom Skinner, an EPA regional administrator whose father served as White House chief of staff for President Bush's father, also is in the running.