www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/12/03/cabinet.main/index.html
Inside Politics Rumsfeld to remain in Cabinet Kerik tapped for Homeland Security; jpg Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has agreed to remain at his Cabinet post for Bush's second term.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- At the urging of President Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has agreed to remain in his Cabinet post, a senior admi nistration official said Friday. The official said the president asked Rumsfeld, 72, to stay during a week ly meeting on Monday because the nation is at war and he is the best per son for the job. Rumsfeld has said he wants to finish his reforms at the Pentagon and cont inue overseeing the Iraq war and that country's hoped-for transformation . Earlier in the day, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson re signed, becoming the eighth member of Bush's 15-member Cabinet to step d own since Bush won re-election.
Full story) Friday morning, Bush nominated Bernard Kerik to lead the Department of Ho meland Security, his latest move to restock his Cabinet for the second t erm. Bush called the former New York City police commissioner a "dedicated, in novative reformer who insists on getting results." He cited Kerik's work in New York where Bush said Kerik "had great succes s in reducing crime in New York City." Kerik, 49, also led the New York City Police Department through the terro rist attacks of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath. "His broad practical hands-on experience makes Bernie superbly qualified to lead the Department of Homeland Security," Bush said.
Profile) "I am deeply humbled and honored for the opportunity to serve you and thi s great country," Kerik said in accepting the nomination. "Should I rece ive the consent of the Senate, I will devote every power I possess towar d fulfilling the vital mission you have set before me and the Department of Homeland Security." An administration official said New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani made pers onal pitches to the White House at least twice on Kerik's behalf. A senior administration official described Kerik as a "proven crisis mana ger" with "credibility and firsthand understanding of the war on terror. " "The country is well aware of his courageous service in responding to the World Trade Center attack, his efforts to coordinate rescue and recover y work at Ground Zero," the senior administration official said. Kerik would succeed Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, 59, who ann ounced his resignation Tuesday.
"Bernard Kerik knows firsthand the challenges and needs of New York and o ther high-threat areas," Sen. "As a member of the president's Cabinet, he can make that case every single d ay." New York officials have long complained that they receive an inadequate s hare of federal Homeland Security money, given the fact that the nation' s largest city faces a heightened threat from terrorists. Other resignations Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Education Secretary Rod Paige, Agriculture Secreta ry Ann Veneman and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, have also announced they're leaving. And this week, John Danforth, the US ambassador to the United Nations, announced he will leave his post in January after less than seven months on the job.
He nominated White House couns el Alberto Gonzales to succeed Ashcroft, national security adviser Condo leezza Rice to take over at the State Department, domestic policy advise r Margaret Spellings to replace Paige and Carlos Gutierrez to be the nex t commerce secretary.
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